11 comments/ 16885 views/ 6 favorites Daughter of Treason Ch. 01 By: livingescapist The night was warm. But, the again, the nights were always warm in Islandport; the only blessing was that the dry desert air, combined with the ocean breeze, at least made it bearable. Though, thought Mirea Feyuni sadly, it wouldn't have to be borne for much longer. She gazed out the window, staring at the moonlight glinting off of the ocean; it was one of the many luxuries she enjoyed, but tonight it brought no solace. "Vera," she said, her voice shaking, "I have one last task for you." "Yes milady?" responded the short woman at her side, eyes swollen red from crying. "Take Isakei. Raise her as your own. Dying for the crime of another is painful enough, but I will not see my daughter killed too." "Please, milady, why not flee?" Vera had been pushing this agenda ever since the trial and, as she had each time, Mirea just smiled sadly and shook her head. "Though I am sure that the charges against my husband are false, I will stay and face my fate. My house, holdings, title, even I, myself belong to Islandport, and though I know that they convict us in error, I will abide their judgment. The only thing of mine which is not the country's is Isakei." A pause as tears filled Mirea's eyes. "I love her so much, Vera. Until you're a mother, you can never truly know what love is." She paused, taking another shaky breath. "Please, Vera. Take her and raise her as your own. It is the greatest and last thing I can ask of you." There was a long pause as Vera searched for some way, any way to convince her mistress to flee, but no arguments came. Finally, she said, "Yes, milady. I will do as you ask." Mirea flashed a smile full of pain to her closest confidant before breathing a heartfelt, "Thank you." The house was deadly silent; few had any cause to be up this early, and fewer still had the audacity to roam around this house in particular, rendering the whole floor silent but for the footfalls of the two women on the thick carpet as they moved down the hall. Mirea gently pushed open one of the doors, slipping inside. "Kei," she said gently, cupping the cheek of the little girl sleeping therein. "Kei, wake up darling." "Mmm, it's too early, Mother." Mirea smiled again, though in the dark the daughter couldn't see it. "I know, darling, but you have to go." The little girl sat up sleepily. "Why?" Though her heart broke, Mirea ignored the question and said with forced cheerfulness, "You're going on a trip while mommy takes care of some things, okay?" But children are more perceptive than adults think; the girl knew there was something wrong, and she was scared. She grabbed her mother's shirt and buried her face in it. The sound somewhat muffled, she asked, "Do I have to?" "Yes," said Mirea, her voice threatening to betray her, "yes, little one, you have to." "Come along now," chimed Vera, failing to hide the anxiety in her voice, "we have a bit of walking to do." Obediently, the little girl took the hand of the chambermaid and let herself be lead towards the door only to stop at the threshold. Frightened, she turned around and looked in the eyes of her mother. Knowing more than anyone would have believed, she said only, "I love you, mommy." "I love you too, sweetie." The tears began to flow in earnest now, but Mirea had no time to staunch their flow; the sun was rising. "Now go." As the chambermaid spirited the little girl off into the rapidly ending night, Mirea collapsed in a chair in her daughter's room. It had been a long night, bribing some guards and slipping sleeping droughts into the drinks of others but, though it broke her heart to do it, her daughter was gone. She stared out the window as the sun began to peek over the ocean. This, she thought distantly, shall be my very last sunrise. Come noon she would find herself on the scaffold, and come evening her head would be separated from her shoulders. But none of that mattered now. Her children were safe. <<<<>>> > Isakei Feyuni was born into a minor noble family on twelfth day of autumn, year 1441 Post Foundation in the city of Islandport to a kind mother and a loving father. As she grew, she was taught how to read and write the common language of Halastian, Elven, Pyrgian, Miasian, and even Draconic. She learned the basics of courtly manners and speech, theology, dance, and, much to her mother's chagrin, the basics of weaponry. For while her mother thought it as unfitting for a lady to be taught the 'common practice' of swordplay and archery, her father adamantly insisted that any daughter of his would know how to defend herself. As she grew, three things became evident. The first was that she took more after her father than her mother; she enjoyed the sword and dagger lessons far more than the ones of etiquette. In fact, it got to the point where she only studied the latter because her father threatened to suspend her lessons in the former. The second was that her intelligence was matched only by her grace. While her instructor indicated that she lacked a certain 'flair' in her dance lessons, she made up for it by delving even further into gymnastics and acrobatics. Once again, her mother might have preferred the more courtly dances to the flashier acrobatics, but the extra grace with which she carried herself was good enough, so no comment was made. The third and final thing was that she would become very beautiful. Her smooth, light brown skin and almond-shaped es were well-complemented and framed by her long lack hair and figure that, while still undeveloped this early in life, was fit and promised curves in all the right places. This, combined with the old adage that 'beauty is found in happiness' made all who knew her glad that they would be able to watch her grow into a beautiful woman. But, alas, it was not meant to be. On the third day of summer, year 1447 PF, just under six years after the birth of Isakei, the Feyuni Family was put on trial and found guilty for High Treason. It was on the evening after verdict that Isakei's mother approached her chambermaid with the plea to see her child to safety. Although the household had assumed that, as a child, she could not understand what was going on, she knew more than they gave her credit for; she knew that her father had a job buying and selling things from across the sea, she knew that someone had found something that wasn't supposed to go across the seas, and she knew her father had nothing to do with this forbidden thing for which he was in trouble. But it wasn't until she saw how sad her mother was, and how strong she was trying to be, that she realized that she might never see her parents again. That night, in a new and unfamiliar place, so close to home yet at the same time so far, Isakei cried for the first time in years. Isakei never asked what happened to her mother; she always suspected the worst, and as she got older and learned more and more about the world around her, she became more and more certain on her mother' death. Although Vera was as caring a foster mother as could be asked for, even working as a chambermaid for a lesser noble she simply could not make enough money for the both of them to live with any semblance of comfort. And so they moved in with Vera's cousin, Raul, but the sanctuary they found was only slightly safer than the one they had left. Between the time-consuming job and housekeeping to pay for their board, there simply wasn't much time for speaking, so it was not she who began to notice how, as Isakei grew older, her figure filled out and her beauty became much more apparent. Some men began to harass her. At first it was easy enough to ignore, just catcalls and so forth, but soon they began outright molesting her. It continued to escalate, them attempting to cop a feel and she attempting to escape and evade, until they crossed a very dangerous line. One man had been grabbing her by now considerable bust when, with a lecherous grin, he grabbed the shift covering it and jerked it down, exposing her chest and adding a large rip to the garment in the process. Isakei acted without thinking, the self-defense training taking over as she yanked the dagger on his hip out of its sheathe and slashed him across the chest. He cried out in pain, calling for aid from his watching comrades, but she had already rolled into some nearby shadows, sprinted down an alleyway, clambered over a high wall and begun to run the whole way home. She never told Vera about any of these encounters, not wanting to worry the poor, overworked woman who had become like a mother to Isakei. She never told Raul because he wouldn't care. So after that encounter, only three things changed. One, she began to always carry the dagger with her, two, the men began to leave her alone, and three, she began to practice weaponry again. She had to use sticks, discarded sheathes, whatever was at hand as placeholders for actual weapons, but she remembered enough to take up practice once more. And so life became manageable for a good long while until, in the winter of 1458 PF, an influenza epidemic took Vera's life. When it was the three of them, there was no problem. But Raul was a regular drunk and a hot-blooded male, and without the counterbalance of Vera, it was only a matter of time before he gave into his baser urges. That time turned out to be nine months. To his credit, he lasted longer than many would have, given the booze and he beauty of the prize in question. But as with murder, the reasons matter little when compared with the act in question. So when Raul cornered Isakei with the intent to take what he wanted from her voluptuous body, she did what any woman would do. She stabbed him in the heart. <<<<>>> > Her breath caught in her chest as his stopped entirely. His features were set in an expression of surprise as he slumped down and, as his body hit the floor with a dull 'thud!', the panic set in. Oh gods, she thought, I just killed a man! In a rush, she grabbed everything he could which would help her as she fed; another few knives, a thick traveling cloak, what little family silver there was to supplement the meager coin Raul hadn't yet spent on booze, and, on impulse, the rusty old sword which had made its home over the fireplace for the past twenty years. Oh gods, I just KILLED a man! With this thought echoing in her mind, she fled the now empty house and began to make her way to the docks, stopping only to buy a sheathe, some rope, and another few daggers, all at the expense of the family silver and the last of her coin. Finally, fully supplied and with her naked rapier hanging on her hip, she made a bee-line for the docks. About halfway there, she found her way blocked by an angry crowd, shouting things like "Kill him!" "Kill the thief!" "Kill the elf!" At this last comment, Isakei bristled. Islandport was a human city, and the only elves known to be seen were the nomadic desert elves who rarely passed through civilized lands, so all the common folk knew of elves were rumors and old wives' tails. Unfortunately, both of those were unkind to the elves, fair or weathered, making racism was rampant. So, when Isakei shouldered her way through the crowd, the first words out of her mouth were, "What the hell is going on here?" "This filth was stealing from me!" exclaimed a fat man, likely an innkeeper, gesturing to a desert elf whose head lay upon a chopping block. Cries went up from the crowd to the tune of "yeah!" I saw it myself" and "he's a fucking elf, kill the bastard!" A tall figure in an executioner's hood added, "We have found this elf guilty, and the penalty for thievery is death." Isakei scowled. "I don't see any staff of office here, so unless you have an Arbiter's uniform on under those grimy rags, I'd say that it's not your call to make." Glancing at the accused, she asked quietly in elven, "Did you steal from this man?" The captive shook his head, replying in kind. "No, I was looking for a place to rest!" "She's an elf!" cried a heckler, prompting more cries of, "She's speaking to the worm!" and the like. I just killed a man! This time the thought held no panic. Now it held confidence. Throwing back her hood, she exposed her face and shouted, "These look like elf-ears to you, dog?!" "How do you speak to that filth, then?" interject the innkeeper. "Is it that you are an elf sympathizer?" "Know thy foe," she replied sardonically, "and unless you'd rather be an ignorant slug, I suggest you follow suit. What exactly did he take, Mr. Would-Be Arbiter?" Looking down at the elf, he said, "He robbed me of my business! He drove away the customers!" The executioner looked at him. "That's it? That's all?" The crowd faltered; this was not the beheading they had expected. Isakei took the opportunity to get another word in, "I think your own stink did that. He," she said, jerking her head towards the elf, "just happened to come along at the wrong time. He stole nothing and now you've lost nothing but what little respect may have existed for you." "He's still an elf!" shouted a heckler. The executioner turned to face the man who had spoken and said simply, "Shut up you fool." Turning to the captive, he said, "Get up, elf." Turning to address the crowd, he continued, "There is no crime here. Move along." Grabbing the newly freed elf's arm, Isakei ushered him away from the crowd and into a maze of alleys as fast as she could. When she judged them to be far enough away to be out of immediate danger, she took him in for the first time, and for the second time that day, her breath caught in her chest. His skin, a bronzed tan, was stretched over a well-defined if lanky frame, but it was his eyes, his golden eyes still sparkling from tears of fear, which sent a flush through her cheeks, among other parts of her anatomy. "Thank you so much," he said in his native tongue. Isakei gave him a slight smile, still trying to master her emotions. "Think nothing of it," she managed before continuing, "Though if you enjoy having your head on your shoulders, it may not be wise to stay in this city." "Oh." He sounded disappointed. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm just used to Fractoria; it's a little more civilized there." Fractoria, a city across the desert in the Pyrgian Empire, was far to the east. Shifting her cloak over her shoulders, she drew a dagger from its sheathe under her arm and held it out to him, pommel-first. "Here. If there's one thing I learned today," she said darkly, "it's that you need a knife to survive." "I can see that," he said, eying the tunic exposed by the shifting of the cloak. The blood had thoroughly soaked the fabric, and though it had already begun to dry in the hot desert air, it still cling to her curves, but the display was far more grotesque than provocative. Looking first down, then away, she looked for a replacement tunic. Finding one on a clothesline nearby, she pulled it off, then pinned up her last silver to pay for it; she was already a murder and wasn't about to become a thief, too. "Look," she said as she did this, "you shouldn't stay here. I'm getting out of this city; you can tag along if you want." She took off her cloak and handed it to him. "Just cover up your ears and try no to let on that you're not human until we're safely away." He nodded as she pulled on the second tunic, and the two made a bee-line for the docks, she checking over her shoulder to ensure that he was following and none others were, he doing his best to appear invisible. When they reached the docks district, Isakei realized a flaw in her plan; in her hurry to escape, she had spent all her money. Turning to the cloaked nomad behind her, she asked, "I don't suppose you have any money, do you?" When he shook his head, she sighed. "Alright, then. We'll have to try to work to earn our passage, or else hope they extend credit." She paused. Isakei was not trained as a sailor; in fact, though she vaguely remembered hearing about how it affected the economy of Islandport, she hadn't a clue of how to go about sailing herself. Slowly, an idea came to mind. She didn't like it, but it would have to do. She lead them to one of the dock's many taverns and began asking around, trying to find a ship that was leaving as soon as possible, preferably through dangerous waters. When her new companion signaled her aside and asked why they would seek out dangerous waters, she responded, "I heard someplace that fear of misfortune is often much greater than the actual chance of it. Since we cannot afford passage ourselves, we shall capitalize on that and hire ourselves out as marines." While technically true, she had head that in her philosophy studies ages ago, and even that was talking about the fear of death, not the fear of being waylaid, captured, tortured, then killed. But she could think of no alternatives, so when she was directed to the Maiden of the Salt, a ship that was sailing to Cromwell, going around the dangerous Fractorian Bay, she decided to take it. As it turned out, the Maiden of the Salt was rather close to the inn, so by the time she spotted it, it was still loading up the last of its cargo. Walking briskly to avoid attracting the attention of the guards, she paused just off the gangplank, her etiquette telling her that it would be rude to board uninvited, and waited. A man who had previously been leaning against a railing, shouting orders to the other seven laborers, grinned down at them and called, "Ahoy there! Where d' you two think you'll be heading off to, eh?" Speaking much more confidently than she felt, Isakei called back, "My friend and I are seeking employment or, barring that, passage." He considered them for a moment before shrugging. "Come aboard, then, and let's talk t' th' captain; he'll be wanting to meet you." As they ascended the gangplank, Isakei took in the ship; though she had no training in appraising such things, even she could tell that this was a run-down vessel; the hull was formed of woods of many different color and texture, each one representing a patch at a different time, and the bulwarks, normally solid and circumventing the entire ship, had long since fallen off and been replaced by rickety railings everywhere but the port stern, and even that remaining barrier looked to be rotting. The masts had several planks nailed to it, no doubt to reinforce it so it wouldn't snap in a gale, and several of the lines looked frayed. But it was a ship, and if they had work, then anything to get them out of the city would do. The man led them to the stern of the ship, where the cabin door was. Knocking, he shouted in Miasian, "Captain, a couple of kids looking for work!" The call to enter came from the other side of the door, but Isakei was already processing; Miasis was a brutal land, and the folks didn't tend to go so far away without reason. So they either had regular trade routes to there, or else had their origins on that continent. And sailors who came from Miasis but did not want to return usually were on the wrong side of the law. As the door swung open, Isakei was fairly certain it was the latter; after being ushered inside and having the door closed behind her, she took in the very tan Cromwellian man, complete with eye patch and parrot on his shoulder. Though his tan but still light skin insured that they were not Miasian natives, the word 'pirate' flashed through her mind for just an instant, shortly followed by the much more pointed thought, 'Murderers don't get to judge.' She bowed. "No need to bow, matey, all are welcome on my ship; we're all sea dogs here." An unwilling smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as she straightened; at least he was an egalitarian brigand. His eyes turned over to the elf. "Ah... A desert elf. It's been a while since I have seen any of you desert folk." The captain and elf had a brief exchange in a tongue unknown to Isakei, making her a bit nervous, but when he next spoke, some of that anxiety was erased. "So you saved his life from the bloody racists, I see." Daughter of Treason Ch. 01 She smiled. "It's good to see that you don't count yourself among them; I admit I was worried I'd have to find a different ship." Suddenly his features turned stern. "Just 'cause I accept the desert kind doesn't mean my shipmates do. So what do you want, girl. Before you speak, know that we need no whore here." He gave a somewhat unsettling smile. "We get along quite well." Isakei bristled. "The last man who tried to touch me fared poorly. I come seeking employment as a sailor and marine, though if no such openings exist, I would settle for booking passage to a safer harbor." He looked at the elf one more time, then turned his eye back to Isakei. "Come down to the galley with me." As the she and the elf followed, he led them on a tour; most of the below decks was a communal living space, with the galley acting as the only real distinct area. The only other noteworthy area was the large, damp cargo hold nearby, next to which a small kitchen sat inactive. The captain sat down at one of the benches in the galley and motioned for the others to to likewise. "Can I get you some rum?" he asked. Out of habit, Isakei shook her head; usually those who offered her drinks did so with malicious intent. "Not at present, thank you." She paused. Though she was loathe to admit it, she was scared; she had just killed the closest thing to family she had left, turned herself into a fugitive, and was about to fall in with some apparently colorful companions. She needed something to calm her down. On impulse, she asked, "Do you have something stronger?" Smiling, he drew a flask for his coat and poured it into a small tankard. "I hope this does. How about for you, Shino?" The elf shook his head, and Isakei realized with a start that she had never even caught his name. As her elven friend requested some rum, she took a swig of the drink before her; it burned her throat, and it made her eyes water, but it gave her something to focus on other than the acidic feeling in the pit of her (rapidly warming) stomach. "Listen-" said the captain, pointedly ignoring Isakei's grimace as the whiskey did its work, before cutting himself off. "What do I call you, by the by?" Isakei blinked. How could she forget introductions entirely? "I am-" She paused. Giving her old name was a bad idea; crimes had a habit of following. The only name hat came to mind was the pet name her mother had often called her by. "You may call me Kei." "You can call me Captain or Salty, whichever you like. But Kei, the sea is a dangerous place for two greenhorns. If I were t' take you two as marines, I would expect the same as from my first mate. Now, I know that neither o' you have any experience on the sea- don't argue, both o' you have had trouble staying on your feet, and we're still in port! And to boot, your friend here is not a warrior. I mean, just look at him. But I am willing to take both of you." Kei wasn't sure whether to feel angry that he saw right through her or relieved that he didn't care. "Then perhaps I shall work for both of us. I'm not a bad shot with a crossbow, nor am I poor with my rapier. But before I agree to anything, you said that you'd expect the same from us as your first mate. What, exactly, does that entail?" He chuckled. "I expect your loyalty, m' dear. Well, that an' you take the commands I give as law. Trust me: treason is not a crime you wish t' commit." Kei nodded once and replied grimly, "Duly noted. I cannot speak for my friend, but as long as his safe passage is assured, I can pledge both my loyalty and obedience." Kei was so busy thinking of how close her family had been to treason that she did not notice the elf's surprised look. But she did notice the captain nodding. "You're lucky, you know. A few minutes later and you would have missed us." A whistle came from above decks. "It's time t' go." Almost not daring to ask, Kei said, "So we may consider ourselves employed, then?" "Aye, and you're working for his fare as well." Sighing with relief, Kei nodded. "Very well. Where do I report to... sir?" A smile appeared on the captain's face. "Talk t' First Mate Rourke." Kei saluted then started up towards the stairs, though the elf put a hand on her shoulder. She wasn't entirely sure what feelings coursed through her at that touch; on the one hand, she was used to feeling disgust whenever anyone laid hands on her. Yet on the other, there was a definite flush of warmth somewhere quite a bit lower than her face. She was on the verge of panicking when he said very quietly, "Why are you being so kind to me?" Suddenly, all thoughts fled. A half dozen answers raced through her mind, from the sassy, 'what, should I stop?' to the deflective 'anyone would have done the same.' But in the end, all that came out was the one answer she didn't need to think about: "Because you needed me." <<<<>>> > The next week was a flurry of learning for Kei. She had never been on a ship before, and getting her 'sea legs' threw her off for the first few days, but once she got her balance all else seemed to follow; tying knots was easy, and climbing the rigging was not too different from her old gymnastics weapons. She had been issued a crossbow, some bolts, and some leather armor from the ship's meager armory, and though she hadn't had the opportunity to test it, it felt familiar in her hands. The armor wasn't the most comfortable, as it was obviously designed for men and Kei's chest didn't take to its confinement well, but the old leather had some give, and the more she wore it, the more comfy it became. Between sparring and learning the ropes of sailing, everything was new but only a little bit of work away; the only real thing she was having trouble with was the crew. It wasn't that they were being rude; that, at least, she could have responded to. She knew how to deal with catcalls, and anything more would give her an excuse to show them what was what, but they didn't do any of that. It was more a feeling of unspoken reservations, almost as if they weren't entirely sure she should be there. Of course, the fact that such concerns were unvoiced was hardly surprising; when she heard one of them trash-talking Shino, she had snapped at them so quickly that they hadn't spoken much outside of ship duties since. All this changed at the beginning of the second week. Kei had been climbing the rigging to furl a sail when the lookout in the crows nest had called, "SHIP AHOY!" Everything had moved quickly after that; the Captain appeared on deck, spyglass in hand. Before she had even gotten down from the rigging, First Mate Rourke shouted, "All hands to their stations; we may have a fight on our hands!" Kei was posted at the port stern, right up against the only real patch of bulwark; Shino had been sent below decks. She had by this time retrieved her crossbow and a quiver of bolts across her back, and was in the process of double-checking all of her weapons; the crossbow, rapier, and all four daggers she had purchased earlier. Part of her mind began thinking, what have you gotten yourself into? but she did her best to shut that part up. The other ship didn't seem that small, but Rourke insisted, "She's tiny, for a galley." He paused, and looked at Kei, adding the next part clearly for her benefit. "You can tell it's a galley by the oars, see? An' the square rigging; most o' us still use triangular sails." She nodded, but was focusing mainly on the flag. Though the hull looked in almost as poor condition as the Maiden of the Salt, the flag was Islandport's. "False colors...?" Kei wondered aloud. "Keep your guard up," Was Rourke's only response. "That's not a national ship." Redoubling her efforts to still her thoughts, Kei triple checked her weapons. Sure enough, as the ship drew near, the Islandport flag was run down to be replaced by the long-feared Jolly Roger. As it pulled alongside, with a good twenty feet between the two decks, two of the pirates attempted to swing aboard, only to fall short, strike the hull of the Maiden, and fall into the sea where, though living, they were out of the fight. On the far deck stood fourteen foes to her and her nine allies, all armed with crossbows. "Fire!" shouted the captain, prompting the first hail of crossbow fire, though it was largely ineffective; only one enemy was wounded, and the others missed entirely. Kei fired with the rest of them, dropping the wounded one before crouching behind the bulwark to reload. As they fired a return volley and two of the crew fell, she was suddenly very grateful to have that bulwark there. In the ensuing exchanges, the crew got another two, wounding a pair both of which Kei managed to finish off, while the pirates managed to take out half of the crew before the captain raised his hands and shouted, "Alright, damn your eyes, we surrender!" Already pumped full of adrenaline, Kei immediately started looking for someplace to hide; Salty may have been giving them the ship, but she was going to make them work for it. As it turned out, the crew had similar thoughts; they fired off another volley, taking another pirate out before she could even make it to the cabin. As she reached the door, the pirate captain ordered his men to board the ship. Though the crew almost all hit their marks while the pirates were attempting to board, bringing the enemies' numbers down to six, all of those but one managed to make it on deck with the last managing only to grab onto the railing of the Maiden. Giving up her plan for ambush, Kei took one last shot with the crossbow, wounding the nearest, before dropping it in favor of her rapier. Her thrust took him by surprise, and the score to his gut put him out of commission. For just a moment, her breath caught in her chest as she saw Raul again, but when one of the fallen pirate's companions narrowly missed her with a wide slash, her mind locked down, focusing only on battle. As the melee between the crew and pirates intensified, one of her daggers found its way to her right hand, her martial training taking over now that rational thought had stepped down. In the ensuing melee, the half remaining crew fell, leaving only three and the captain, but so too did all the pirates except their captain, who still stood on the far ship. As the combat had progressed, the ships had drawn closer, and still in a combative mindset, Kei did the only thing she could think of; she threw the dagger at the pirate captain. It was a terrible throw, only striking a mast ten feet away by luck, but the Captain nonetheless jumped through the cargo hatch. Giving a cry of rage, Kei sprinted forward and leaped, clearing the now five foot gap between the decks and landing on the other side. Yet more pirates flowed out from below decks, and the world dissolved into a haze of battle rage. There were islands of lucidity in the madness: seeing Rourke fall, watching Salty fight off more boarders, but most memorable was the moment she was surrounded. For a moment, just a moment, she saw through the chaos of combat and saw something familiar; dance. It all could be taken to be a giant, complex dance, and yet the only thing she could think of in the face of this epiphany was, I always preferred gymnastics. And so, in the face of being surrounded, she flung herself backward into a graceful back handspring, kept her momentum with her as the turned it into a cartwheel, drew a dagger and let fly; the last sight in that memory was seeing it sink into a pirate's neck before the general chaos resumed. As the battle wore on, Kei's ferocity and grace began to take its toll; fatigue caught up to her, and she moved just a little bit too slow to avoid some slashes, taking a particularly deep gash on the back and a lighter one across her stomach as well as several grazes. Somewhere in the madness Shino had joined the battle with only his dagger, and had managed to survive unscathed. By the time clarity returned, the general melee was over and Kei found herself wounded with only one dagger left of the original four; the absent three could be found in the ship or, more often, its inhabitants, and nearly all were bloody. Grunting in pain, Kei finally noticed her elven companion and said, "Shino, I don't suppose you have anything to patch me up?" As he shook his head 'no', the captain emerged, mistaking the lack of battle for victory. "Aha!" he had exclaimed, "Nobody defeats Phil the--" He stopped mid sentence, seeing the carnage around. The battle-rage gone, Kei had only a cold anger. Stabbing with her rapier, she scored a hit on his belly before he screamed and ran for the edge of the ship. She managed to get another hit in on his shoulder before he threw himself overboard, swimming for the shore. Not one to be deterred, Kei sheathed her rapier, walked over to one of the fallen pirates, calmly picked up the crossbow, loaded it, and fired. Though in her fatigue and post-adrenaline crash she couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, she kept on trying: fire, reload, aim, fire, reload, aim... This was a dance of war, but it was so different from the previous melee; it was rhythmic, certain, ordered. It was driven by logic, not emotions, and though it didn't do a quarter as much damage as twenty seconds of anger had, it felt better. When she finally judged the pirate captain to be out of range, she dropped the crossbow with a sigh. "Well," said Shino, looking at Kei with something bordering on awe, "at least we got the rest of them." Kei groaned. "Yeah, but at the price of a rib, it feels like." "Oi!" shouted Salty, "will you two stop lollygagin' and loot th' bastards!" Groaning, all she could was respond, "Aye aye, sir!" <<<<>>> > The rest of the trip proved to be relatively uneventful; though Kei and Shino had to pick up up the slack while the crew recovered, the pirate galley turned out to have quite a bit of money. There were also some books and scrolls there, which Salty had given to Shino. As for the rest, the captain had, citing the fact that Kei had finished off nearly a third of the pirates herself and was still the last one standing, had awarded her a share of the treasure. Given that the captain got two shares and the rest of the crew divided up one share, this meant that Kei could would find herself quite wealthy, indeed. This bounty, however, was paid for in blood; Kei frequently found herself thinking, What I wouldn't give for a cleric. The only upside was that the crew had stopped being so distant. They weren't precisely buddy-buddy, but they actually spoke to her outside of their duties, and one had even thanked her for her efforts! But Kei was less than animated in her dealings with them; instead she was the reserved one, saying as little as possible to anyone. It got so bad that Shino had to pull her aside and check on her. He managed to corner her during watch on a particularly calm night. Shino technically wouldn't have to relieve her for another three hours, so she wasn't allowed to lave the crow's nest until he formally took her place. Kei heard him coming a bit before he peeked his head above the rickety platform which served as a lookout post. His face was piqued; he had cheerfully announced earlier on the voyage that he didn't like heights. Although Kei herself was surprisingly comfortable perched atop the rickety platform, Shino's fear made his presence all the more suspicious. "Hello," he said with forced cheer. Kei gave only a nod in reply, keeping her gaze fixed pointedly on the horizon, though in her periphery she saw him glance over the side of the nest and take a gulp before continuing, "Are you all right?" "Yes." She said, a little too quickly. He stared at her long and hard, and for just a moment she made the mistake of meeting his gaze. Blushing, she looked away again as he said simply, "I don't believe you." "Believe what you like," she snapped, irritated at the sudden flush going through her body again. "I'm sure you will anyway." "Hey," he said, gently putting his hand on her shoulder. Instantly, all those emotions came flooding back. For an instant, she fought them, trying to push them away, but with that had on her shoulder, a little dam inside her cracked. The next thing she knew, she had her head buried into his shoulder, sobbing. Shino just held her for quite some time, stroking her hair and murmuring comfortingly. Eventually, when the tears started to slow, he finally asked, "What's wrong?" Kei managed to hold back a relapse of tears just long to choke out, "I'm a monster!" "What?" Shino sounded genuinely confused. "You're not a monster." "I am!" Muffled in his shoulder, she knew he had to strain to hear, but she didn't want to show her face, not right now. "Alright," he said, all patience, "how are you a monster?" "I don't feel anything!" In the resulting silence, she finally pulled her head back, looking up at him for the first time since she started crying, searching for some sign that he understood. "I killed a dozen men. They're gone, do you see? A dozen lives, and I snuffed them all out, and I don't feel an ounce of remorse!" "They were trying to kill you," Shino said, still not understanding. "But I should still feel something! I've read accounts; even in war, the soldiers have feelings! It's human nature, you see? So why don't I feel anything?" "You seem to feel something now," pointed out Shino, "something a lot like guilt." She shook her head and buried her face in his shoulder again. Why, she wondered, did that feel so right? "No, it's different. They all feel guilt over the act of killing, but I-" "Who?" he asked, confused. "Them!" she said, waving her hand in the general direction of shore without bothering to move her face from his shoulder. "The plebeians! They-" "Plebeians?" Shino asked, amused. She glared at him for a few moments. "Yes, plebeians, common folk, normal people. They would feel guilt over this, or relief, or joy at being alive- something. But I don't care that I just killed more men than I have fingers! That's not what upsets me! I just-" she paused, taking a deep breath before continuing quietly, "I don't want to be a monster." Smiling down at her, he said, "You aren't. Not feeling anything at doing what had to be done, that doesn't make you a monster. Paladins don't think twice after dispatching evil-doers. It just makes you confident." She started to respond, but he cut her off, "And monsters don't care what they are. As long as you make sure you don't kill anyone who doesn't deserve it, as long as you try to be a good person, you won't be a monster." "But-" "Don't worry about it." His smile was entirely disarming. "I'll tell you what. If you start becoming a monster, I'll tell you. Okay?" Kei hesitated. A part of her, the same part that had kept her alive and sane in the long years without anyone looking out for her, was saying, you barely know this man. YOU are responsible for the person you become, and you only! How could you even think to trust this man, this stranger with not just your life, but your very being? But another part, the same small part that saw him and said, 'he needs me,' the same part that previously hadn't been heard from since Vera had passed away, said, "Okay." <<<<>>> > They didn't talk about that evening after Kei was relieved, and that suited her just fine. Although she wasn't loud about it, her independence in the later years of her life had lead her to to be quite proud, and her outburst of emotion, which would have meant exposing herself to predators back home, felt like a weakness. However, despite feeling that she had experienced a momentary lapse in strength, she did become much more sociable over the last week of the journey. She spoke with the crew a bit, and with Shino extensively, and for the most part, everyone was as kind as could be asked. One of the crew had even said to her, "Ah, I'm glad to see yer feelin' better. I remember my first battle; I was so torn up after, I had t' pray for a week just to get myself feelin' to rights." Daughter of Treason Ch. 01 "Pray?" she had repeated dumbly. "To who?" He had looked confused. "To who? Why, t' the gods, o' course! I always prayed to the Trickster God m'self. His roguish ways seemed most in line with my own, if you're catchin' my meaning." Kei had thought on that; she had learned about the gods back in her basic tutoring, but had never attended any temple services. Though Vera had gone devoutly to the Shining One's temple with great regularity, Kei had always preferred to stay behind, never liking the stuffy sermons. But now she was at a loss. Who would she pray to? What would she pray for? Although Shino had said that he would keep her from becoming a monster, what could she have a right to pray for? The answer presented itself. Even if Shino failed, perhaps the gods would pick up where he left off. Praying to the Warrior, the god of strength and the Judge, the god of retribution, she prayed for two things: justice, and the strength to endure it. When they finally arrived at the port of Cromwell, this was still on her mind. Salty had given her no less than three thousand gold pieces, but when she saw it, it just made her sick to her stomach. She had prayed for justice, and she was being rewarded for killing? Turning to Shino, she asked, "Is there anything you need?" He looked thoughtful. "Well, I used to be a diviner, but my spell book was damaged and lost back in Islandport. It would be nice buy a new spell book and reacquire some more spells." She barely heard him. "Here," she said, thrusting the sack full of coins into his hand, "take it." Looking confused, he held the bag, but asked, "Are you sure?" Ignoring him, she turned to Salty. "Captain, might I have some shore leave?" Salty nodded. "Aye, go ahead, Lass. You've earned it. Though I wonder what it is you'll be doing that doesn't require money," he said with a merry twinkle in his eye. Kei, good at reading people, didn't miss it; she just chose to ignore it. She was feeling increasingly claustrophobic, trapped on the cramped ship. She needed to get away, she needed to do... something. What precisely, she wasn't quite sure, but she knew that despite Shino's assurances, she did not feel that everything would be all right. She began to wander. Out of habit, she stuck to the shadows, trod lightly, and kept her eyes open, not that it was necessary; though her figure may have made her a potential target for particularly ambitious ne'er-do-wells in the night, it was still afternoon, and the rapier on her hip and dagger sheathes on varying parts of her body meant that that the few who did see her and pay her notice gave her a wide berth. Kei wandered aimlessly through the city, subconsciously heading towards the poorer distinct before her feet brought her to a stop in front of a temple. Glancing up, she noticed that it was the temple of the Judge. Uncertainly, she went inside, and was surprised at what she found. The Judge's temple in Islandport had been expansive, all marble and mahogany pews. This was something else. It had the same feeling of weight that all religious places do, but it was small, quaint almost; everything was wood, mostly oak and pine, and the few folks who were there didn't have the same self-important air about them that the merchants and government officials back in Islandport did. To the contrary, it was mostly merchant and lower-class families, either praying intently, speaking quietly but amiably with one another, or sometimes just sitting and watching. Kei felt uncomfortable, like she was intruding, but a part of her told her to stay. So she did, standing in the corner and watching the rest of the temple, from the ringed arms of the Judge's symbol to the patrons and practitioners. She remained that way for quite some time, simply observing while her mind was occupied with the same things it had been for the past week, until a voice said, "A penny for your thoughts?" Starting, Kei almost jumped back before she realized it belonged to a small, middle-aged man standing just to her side. "I don't mean to intrude," he said quickly, catching her expression, "but you seem to be troubled." Forcing a smile, Kei replied, "It's not important." He gave her a look. "Why don't you let me be the judge of that. Come, take a seat." "I don't want to impose-" "It's why these temples even have priests," he said with a smile before sitting and motioning for her to follow suit. When she did so, he fixed a very patient gaze on her and said, "So why don't you tell me what's wrong?" "It's nothing." He gave her a look again. As she had grown up, it had paid for her to learn how to read people; indeed, a couple of times it had made the difference between being assaulted and simply a close call, and as such she had gotten very good at reading others. However, her lack of interaction had left her with absolutely no skill in lying; most who spoke to her could read her like a book. Sighing, she said, "Alright, have it your way. It's not nothing. I did something, something very bad." "Why?" There was no judgment in his response, just an inquiry borne of a desire for more information. "Why does anyone do anything? Because I had to. They attacked first, and we had no choice but to defend ourselves. But..." She looked him in the eyes. "I prayed for justice, you know. But today, instead of an arrest notice, I was given a reward. A reward! For-" She cut herself off, monetarily unable to continue. There was a silence between them until the priest asked, "Did you do anything illegal?" Kei faltered. "No, but-" "Then why should you not be rewarded?" She blinked. "Everything I did was legal, but I wasn't certain it wasn't right. Shouldn't what's right trump what's lawful?" He smiled. "You've come to the wrong church if that's what you believe. But I do have some advice, if you'd like to hear it." "By all means, please!" "If you truly believe that what you did was wrong, even if it was legal, then do something to make up for it. I've seen many people come here after making a mistake, looking for guidance, and what I've found is this: the ones who can look themselves in a mirror five years later aren't the ones who stewed in their guilt. They're the ones who went out and did something about it." "I don't think-" Kei began, but he cut her off. "I'm not saying that they're perfectly happy with themselves. Many, if not all, of them still feel shame for whatever mistakes they made. But the difference between these people and the ones who can't even bear to look upon themselves is that at least the people who tried can honestly say, 'I have done my best to make amends, and if it's not enough, then at least I tried.'" "I don't think I can make amends to the men I've wronged," Kei said with a hint of a smile. The priest shrugged. "Then don't make amends to those you believe you've wronged, however legally. Make amends to the world in general. Find someone and help them or, if you cannot find anyone, then find someone who has been wronged and help them get justice." He smiled. "The Judge is the god of retribution, after all. The world is a big place; I'm sure you can find some way to make up for whatever you did." Uncertainly, "I suppose, but do- Do you think I could stay here for a while? Just to think?" The priest smiled. "Certainly. And if you need anything else- to talk more, advice, if you have questions- feel free to ask." She returned his smile with one of her own. "I will. And thank you." <<<<>>> > Kei stayed there for three more hours. She was going to do something good with her life, that much she had already decided on. But what, she had no idea. She knew a good many things, but very few of them overlapped, and even if they did, it took credentials to be hired as a sage. She had a good vocabulary from all the books she had read, though despite her cunning and intellect, she wasn't that good at dealing with people, so some form of lobbyist was impossible even if she could find an opening. She was fit, and so could and technically did work as a laborer, but that didn't seem to be helping anyone. Really, the only skills she had were killing people and looking pretty, and she'd be damned if she entered the flesh trade just to give her earnings away to some beggar. No, there had to be some way for her to make the world a better place without sacrificing her dignity. Ultimately, the only compromise she could think of relied on acrobatics. She was still quite talented at them, having built off the little training she had received as she grew up with her own practice and experimentation. She didn't like the idea of performing simply for someone's pleasure, but the priest was right; she had to make amends, and this idea was at least a bit more tasteful than the only alternatives she could think of. And so, with one last smile to the priest of the Judge, she left the temple and went towards a tavern she remembered passing. On the way, she detoured back to the ship to drop off her rapier and place her daggers much more discretely; it wouldn't do to show up at an inn armed to the teeth and ask to become an entertainer. When she arrived, she fond it crowded and rowdy. For the next half hour, she tried in vain to find a manager or owner or someone other than a barkeep who, when she asked for something other than a drink, simply looked confused for a moment before being distracted by someone saying the familiar words, 'barkeep, an ale!'. Finally, frustrated, she gave up and just sat at the bar, wondering if she should just leave. It was then that a man slid up to her asking, "Now why is a pretty little thing like you in a place like this?" "Looking for work," she grumbled without even looking at him. She'd be come onto in precisely this manner more times than she cared to relate. "Oh good!" That caught her interest. He said it in a relieved tone, but his previous statement had been solicitous. She had survived on more than a few occasions by her ability to read people, and there was something up with this one. "I need help, you see." His voice, all pleading, still rang false to her. "It's my family, you see! My wife and kids, they-" he choked up a moment before getting out, "they've been murdered!" That much was true, she judged, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that something more was up. But the priest had said 'find someone and help them', so help she would. "How long ago was this?" she asked, still cautious. "Just last night!" He seemed so sincere now that a part of her wondered if she hadn't been imagining things. "Can you take me to where they were found?" she asked, becoming both genuinely concerned and excited that she might be able to do something good for once. "Yes, sure! Come on!" He lead her through the nighttime streets quickly, leading her to a poorer district before stopping in front a building. "This is my house," he explained, fidgeting with a key. "Have you called the guards yet?" Kei asked; he had practically been running, so she hadn't been able to get a word in since she had been ushered out of the tavern. He shook his head. "No, I've been too scared." He managed to unlock the door, pushed it open, and entered, motioning her in. She followed, and immediately noticed that he had not been lying; sure enough, a woman and two children were lying face-up on the floorboards, their throats slit and, in the case of the woman and the younger child, tears in their shirts. Covering her mouth out of reflex, she asked, "Dear god, what happened here?" She heard the door close behind her and the lock turned with an audible 'click'. The torchlight in the street just barely made it to the room, shrouding everything in shadows. "She was going to leave, you know." The hairs on the back of Kei's neck stood up. It was the same man, but his voice sounded different. Detached. Dangerous. "And we couldn't have that." Slowly turning to face the door, she scanned the shadows for him. "What did you do?" she asked in a low voice. She had found his figure, but couldn't make out his face. "Oh, nothing too difficult. She said she was going to leave, so I grabbed Liam and put a knife to his throat. I told her I'd kill him is she left, but then I realized: why not do it anyway? I never wanted to get married you know. Liam was a mistake, and she said that we had to get married because of it. 'But hey,' I thought, 'why not solve two problems in one stroke?'" "You..." Kei choked on anger. "You did this?" "Oh yes," he said as Kei tried to discreetly free a dagger from where she had hidden it in her belt. "After cutting Liam's throat, she started screaming so loudly it hurt my ears. So I stabbed her, but she kept making this awful rasping noise, so I cut her throat, too. Now I'm not married any more." "And the other child!?" She was frantically trying to make out his body now, but the torches outside gave him back lighting which made seeing anything but general shapes difficult. "Well, we couldn't have any lose ends now, could we? But I realized something. After killing them, for the first time in my life I felt... free. Like I was finally in charge, you know? When I saw you in the bar, I thought, 'I want that.' But you didn't seem interested. But," he said, his voice laced with self satisfaction, "you seem interested now." "That's because I want to-" She stopped mid-sentence. This was what she was here for. She may not have be good for making money or healing people, but she knew evil when she saw it. And yes, she wanted to kill this man. "Because I want to kill you." she finished calmly. "Kill me?" The man sounded amused. "Then it's mutual! You're a pretty flower; I was worried you'd go without even a fight. But no, it looks like you'll squirm. That will be nice." Not even bothering to hide it now, she drew the dagger from her belt and felt a smile start to form on her face. "Yes, kill you." He spoke very animatedly, and for a moment she had seen the silhouette of a dagger in his right hand. She took a fighting stance and prepared to strike as he began slinking towards her when suddenly he ducked under the back lighting of the window. Surprised and unable to see him, she darted back to find that she had forgotten about the bodies. Tripping over the woman, she fell flat on her ass. She had scrambled to her feet, struggling to find footing when a searing pain flashed across her left arm, accompanied by a quiet 'swish'. Jumping backwards, she was expecting the body this time and allowed herself to fall backwards, turning it into a roll before finding her footing again on clear floor. He was standing again, and she could see his silhouette once more. Shifting her grip from the pommel to the blade, she cocked back her arm and threw it as hard as she could at his chest. A grunt of pain brought another smile to her lips. "You...you stabbed me!" Not bothering to wait for him to continue, Kei freed another dagger from her belt for her wounded left hand and wrestled another from its hiding place between her breasts for her right. "You bitch! You STABBED me!" Kei's grin only widened. A paladin may have taken the opportunity to say give some holier-than-thou 'how's a taste of your own medicine?' speech, but not Kei. She was not here to save him. She had already identified him as a disease of the world, and one that must be removed. Now all there was to do was remove it. Shifting her grip on the right dagger from pommel to blade again, she threw it at him as well. Being left-handed, it was no surprise that a dagger thrown from her right missed. But when the handle bounced off the wood behind him, he realized exactly what she was doing, and before she could fish her final dagger out from her boot, he gave a cry of rage and charged her. Though he avoided the bodies, Kei was ready for him. She saw his thrust coming from a mile away and batted it to the side easily before returning one of her own. He was not so quick as she; the dagger sunk deep into his chest. His momentum carried his body forward, and the resulting collision knocked both of them over which, ultimately, only drove both the thrown and thrust dagger deeper. For the second time in her life, Kei watched from less than a foot away as a man's life left his eyes, only this time there was no panic on her face; instead, her features held on a grin of satisfaction. She shoved him off her unceremoniously before pulling out the two daggers which had hit their marks. She gave them a quick wipe down using his shirt before replacing them in their sheathes. She rooted around in the darkness until she found the last dagger, replaced it as well, and paused. When the guard finally did arrive, they would probably think that someone had killed him and his family both, rather than the first killing the second and the second slaying the third. Though she realized it didn't really matter, the idea that they would think her to be the monster didn't sit well with her. So using her dagger, she carved into the far wall, "A murderer lived here. Now he lies with his victims." It wasn't the neatest message, but it was the best she could manage with only distant torchlight to see by. As she left, she contemplated telling the guards, but dismissed the notion; the guards would ask her many pointed questions, and could detain her for quite some time until they verified her story. The truth needs no testimony, and the guards' jobs were practically done, so Kei decided to let them find out in their own time. She walked through the city quickly, once more sticking to the shadows; it had become almost like second nature to her by now. She felt high on life, like she had taken her first breath of air after ages under water, like she was just now starting something she should have been all along. Had she not been so occupied in feeling this, she might have wondered at what made her different from the man she had just ended, but endorphins and an adrenaline high rarely lead to introspection. By the time she arrived back at the ship, she was so animated that Shino couldn't help but to take notice. "Glad you're feeling better!" She just gave a self-satisfied "hm" in response before looking around. The normally camped living quarters were deserted but for Shino who sat at the galley with a thick book, a pile of scrolls and several inkwells. "Where is everyone?" "Shore leave." replied Shino. "Apart from Salty, who's taking first watch, everyone's out having a good time." Kei considered him, feeling strangely bold. "How about you? Are you having a good time?" "Oh yes!" he replied. "I used that money you gave me to buy a Book of the Mage! Not only can it hold more spells than a normal spell book, but it's even proofed against the elements!" Kei frowned, not certain why this response disappointed her. Perhaps, had she been more self-reflective, she would have realized that she wanted him to pick up on her flirtatious tone, not her bland words. But even if she had started looking into her own motives, she wouldn't have had time to reach any conclusions; Shino was staring at her chest and, to her unconscious dismay, not in the same way most men had over the years. "Kei?" he asked, suddenly alarmed. "Why is there blood on your shirt?" Her eyes widened. "Blood...?" She glanced down for the first time since heading to the inn. There wasn't much, not nearly as much as when she had killed Raul. But sure enough, there was a large red stain on her cream tunic, and without the hot Islandport day to dry it, it still had its crimson color. "Oh." She gave a smile. "I killed a monster." "A monster?" There was still a trace of alarm in his voice, but it was fading. "What do you mean?" "A monster," she said, shrugging. "Someone who doesn't deserve the title of 'man', who forfeit his life when he forfeit his humanity." Daughter of Treason Ch. 02 They had been at sea for two months, and Kei was starting to get restless. It wasn't that she was unhappy. Far from it, she was the most well-off she could remember; she had food, shelter, employment, safety, and even friends. The crew had become, while not precisely close, familiar. In the back of her mind, she still assessed them as threats, but she had spent so much time with them, become so familiar with their ways and tells that she was confident that they were well-intentioned or, a part of her whispered, that she could handle them if that changed. Shino, meanwhile, was also living quite well, and had become like one of the crew; he would joke with them, play the ridiculous games they invented to pass the time, and though he often looked puzzled at some of their more creative curses, he was quickly becoming accustomed to the vulgar. This was something that would likely serve him well, for though she was generally quiet, when struggling to furl a sail in a storm, Kei was learning to cuss the paint off walls. Yet all this comfort was part of the problem; when she had faced an evil man in mortal combat, she had had felt like she was doing something she was supposed to, like she was serving justice, like she was making progress in the world. She had felt alive. But in the relative safety and comfort of the ship, she grew restless. Colors were less vivid, the air less sweet, walls more confining, and the creeping doubt and guilt was beginning to return. Little thoughts like, 'you don't deserve this good fortune' and 'you should be making the world better' are easily suppressed once, but as time goes on, they start to grind the ego down. So when, less than a month away from Beacon City, they found a another ship change its course to follow them, Kei was ready for a fight. Unlike the last, this ship was in much better shape; Kei identified it on sight as a longship, thanks to the impromptu tutoring she had been receiving as a functional member of the crew, but unlike the previous run-down excuse for a ship, this one had complete bulwarks, a fine, whole mast, a great smooth sail and, most notably, raised mangonel platforms at the bow and stern. Those catapults could, with a well-aimed shot, easily sink the Maiden of the Salt. They tried running but, unfortunately, even with the winds in their favor, the longship had the advantage on them. "At least they're honest pirates," commented Kei dryly, eying the Jolly Roger which had been flying from the rapidly gaining galley since it had given chase. Rourke only grunted in response and continued to stare at the longship. "Shino," he said for the third time, "I don't suppose y' have any o' that fire magic we can use, do you?" Shino gave an exasperated sigh. "Not from this range. Like I said, I have to be within fifteen feet." Rourke shook his head sadly. It wasn't much longer until they were in catapult range, and everyone knew it. Minutes passed before finally Salty spoke for the first time in an hour. "Well," he said, determination in his voice, "I suppose we've got no choice then." The crew tensed; surely he had some crazy plan. He always did, from the stories the crew told about him. "Run up th' white flag; we're surrendin'." Kei sat there, stunned. "Surrendering, captain? But-" He held up his hand. "One good hit from them mangonels and we're done for, an' we obviously can't outrun them; from th' looks of things, they have twenty armored boarders ready, so they'd just pull alongside an' take us by force." "But we could use false colors-" "We can't outrun them," stressed Salty, "so false colors do us no good." Something clicked. Heavily armored, he says. "How heavily armored?" Kei asked, trying and failing to keep a neutral facial expression. Salty narrowed his eyes. "Chainmail on most, breastplates an' splint mail on a few. Why, what're you thinkin'?" "Sir, if you can get Shino within fifteen feet, he can take care of the catapults. Using that as a distraction, I'll swing across the gap and into their rigging; if they're armored, I'll had the advantage there, and cut up as much of their sail as I can. That could buy us enough speed to escape, or at least enough of a lead to make pursuit impractical." Salty stared at her for a good long while before laughing and clapping her on the shoulder. "I'm thinkin' that I'm statin' t' like you, lass! You heard the lady!" he bellowed, "raise th' white flag, we're doin' as she says." <<<<>>> > Kei was perched in the crow's nest when the longship pulled alongside, the Maiden on the left and Pirates on the right. The only real reason she was up there was because she needed a high point to swing from that wouldn't arouse suspicion; an armed woman clinging to a rope in the rigging would raise a few eye brows to say the least, but just an average lookout holding a safety line? Well that was normal. Kei still didn't much care for the crow's nest. Though she was more than comfortable climbing or swinging or jumping, all those involved motion, some sort of task she could focus on. The crow's nest was not for doing, it was for waiting, and when she was waiting, it was difficult ignoring just how far of a fall it was to the deck below. Perhaps this is why she was clutching the rope in one hand and glaring down at the longship when the two ships drew near. Several of the pirates had noticed her, and were leering up at her with lechery clear on their faces, but her eyes passed over them. Instead, her gaze locked on the one man who did not seem to be thinking impure thoughts; the captain, standing on the quarterdeck just forward of the mangonel, was looking at her much the same way as she was looking at him. Each was assessing the other as a threat and, what's more, the pirate was better at it. Though Kei was good at reading tells, she was very poor at concealing her own; her right hand clutched the rope, her left was pressed against the floor of the nest to conceal the rapier, and nearly every muscle in her body was tensed. Everything about her screamed that she was ready for a fight, and while the captain may not have been quite so good at reading people, his relaxed posture made only the subtler tells visible, and even those were hard to see at a distance. The only slip he had made was in not concealing his gaze. "Helm to starboard!" he barked, much to the surprise of the crew, "prepare for boarders! Mangonels, stand by!" In an instant, Kei realized she had been found out; their captain was steering them away from the Maiden, and what's more, was preparing for a fight. She might have mistaken these actions for simple caution, if it wasn't for the pirate captain's intent stare. But the bloodlust had already taken her, and she wasn't about to let a fight get away. "Shino, now!" Her sudden signal caught both pirates and crew off guard, but Shino cast his spell anyway; a fifteen foot cone of fire wasn't that damaging when the other ship was ten feet away, particularly when it had been wet down for just such a reason, but the hot sun overhead had dried the ship somewhat, so while the hull did not catch on fire as Kei had hoped, the fore mangonel platform did catch, and Kei wasn't about to give them the opportunity to put it out unmolested. Thrusting her foot through the loop at the end, she pushed off of the crow's nest with the free foot and fell, flew. For just a moment, Kei relished the feeling of the air rushing past her face, the momentary feeling of weightlessness as she began the decent, the strain of the centrifugal force, and the exhilaration that came with the moment of truth when she removed her foot and let go of the rope. Time stood still while the trod air as the deck of the longship rushed up to meet her. The span of a heartbeat passed like a few seconds, and she wrenched her arm to get the rapier off to one side; it would not do to literally impale herself on her own sword. Time returned when her boots hit deck and she pitched forward, using a roll to convert her downward momentum into forward momentum. Continuing the run, she sprinted right past a pair of stunned pirates, ducked the panicked, wide swing of a third, and launched herself into the starboard ratlines. Scrambling up the first few rungs before any other pirates had the good sense to cut her down, she could only grin as the shouts of alarm started. She could feel through the rope that one or two were climbing up after her, so she turned and slashed a couple of times with her light rapier to force them to keep their distance before she resumed her climb. She most certainly had the advantage here; their heavy armor slowed them down, but Kei's light leather provided no such encumbrance, so when she reached the yard where the mainsail still lay furled, she disposed of the lookout with one well-placed thrust and still had a fair amount of time to hack away at it with her rapier. While designed for stabbing, its cutting edge nonetheless worked well enough to thoroughly shred the sail. When the two marines who had indeed perused her drew near, she clambered on to the crow's nest, flashed them a wicked grin, and cut away the shroud lines. With no anchor at the top, the shroud, ratlines and all, fell away, and the two marines with it. That shroud was one of two supporting the longship's only mast, and Kei felt it give a lurch as it suddenly had ropes securing it on only one side. For an instant, Kei entertained the notion of riding the mast's fall to the sea and diving at the end, but dismissed it quickly; if she didn't hit anything solid, she would be tangled in the rigging and drown. Besides, by now the longship had fully pulled away, and Shino had been able to torch only one mangonel; unless she disabled the other, any escape would be pointless. Instead she sheathed her rapier, grabbed on to the line from the mast to the stern, and slid. Had she not been wearing leather gloves, the friction would have likely caused so much heat as to make her let go prematurely. As it was, the thick leather absorbed the brunt of it, but when her lateral swinging brought one of her wrists into contact with the rope, it caused a nasty burn. She hit the deck close to the aft mangonel and landed wrong; she managed to go a sloppy roll, but jarred her ankle in the process. Had she still carried a blade in one hand, the damage likely would have been much more severe. But there is no rest for the wicked; the pirates wasted no time in turning their attention from the torn sails and unstable mast to the culprit prone on the aft of the ship. One of the mangonel operators drew a dagger and tried to stab her, but Kei rolled out of the way, drew one of her own and slashed with it. Both strikes were far too sloppy to hit, but each put the other on guard and, more importantly, bought time. They exchanged another few thrusts and parries, Kei ending up with her back to the railing between the quarter and main decks. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a trio of marines ascending to the quarterdeck on the starboard side ladder. Making a snap decision, she threw her weight over the rail, landed on her bad leg, and collapsed on the main deck. Though in pain and in battle, everything was still clear; it was all a dance, just one which she had the misfortune of making a few missteps in. In front of her were nearly all the marines not trying to secure the mast or put out the fire in the bow, the closest of which was a scant ten feet away, and behind her was a mangonel operator and the three marines who had come to help and, more importantly, the door the captain's cabin. Throwing her weight back, she rolled into the captain's cabin, kicked the door shut with her good foot, scrambled to a knee, and slid the bar into place. She breathed a sigh of relief as it slid home; that, at least, would buy her some time. She scanned the room for anything else of use, and quickly found something of interest. It was simple but perhaps the most immediately useful of anything else in that room; there was a table and a pair of chairs. She wasn't in much of a condition to move the table which was likely nailed down anyhow, but chairs were good for both sitting on and barricading doors. Limping over to one, she quickly dragged it back and propped it against the door which was already being pounded on by the angry pirates on the other side. Feeling that she had a bit more time, she conducted a more thorough appraisal of the room; the quarters were quite fine, with the table, chairs, and bed frame all elaborately carved and apparently a part of the same set. There were windows in the aft letting in a luxurious amount of light, one of which was open and allowing some airflow to boot. And, most notably, there was a chest in one corner. Kei limped over to it to find that it wasn't latched properly; it could be and was simply pulled open. Inside were, among other things, a good many papers, a leather bound journal, a large sack of coins, and a strange, glowing blue liquid in a clear, iron-banded bottle. Figuring it must be a healing potion, Kei tore the sheets off the bed, quickly cut them into a small knapsack, and put the bottle and, with a wicked grin, the coins into it before tying it off and securing it to her back. Ill-gotten gains won't stay put for long, will they? mused Kei before she turned her attention back to the pounding on the door. There was shouting outside, and the pounding increased; they were definitely going to break it down, but she would probably have one minute, maybe two before they got a ram to destroy it completely. Glancing around the room, she found nothing else that was likely to be of use. Outside the open window, however, a frayed rope end caught her attention. It wasn't until she was outside, clinging to the rope and trying to climb back up to the quarterdeck from the outside of the ship that she realized that she still had no way to destroy the mangonel. Cursing herself silently for neglecting to take a lantern while she was there, she continued to climb as quietly as she could. The shouting gave good cover noise to allow her to proceed at a decent pace, but when she was a few feet from the top, she heard the door splinter and crack, then the thunder of boots rushing into the recently vacated captain's quarters. Using a final surge of strength, Kei hauled herself over the side and allowed herself to fall prone behind the mangonel, praying that the siege operators were helping to storm the cabin. When no shouts or sudden bouts of movement came, she allowed herself to peek out from behind the mess of wood which was the mangonel; there was indeed a siege operator on the quarterdeck, but he was peering over the railing down to the main deck. Reveling in her luck, she quietly moved forward; she had to take down that mangonel. Mangonels are powered by a rope which is tightly wound around the main axle in the center of the base, and having no fire, it was this rope that Kei would have to deal with. It was facing forward and just a bit to port, almost right at the Maiden, so to get at the rope, Kei had to climb over the arm. She tried cutting it, but her arms were weak and in her desire to not be heard, she ended up only scoring the thick rope. Cursing quietly, she was about to try again when the siege operator turned, saw Kei, and gave a cry of alarm. Surprised, Kei fell backwards into the cup of the mangonel. In a moment of panic, all Kei could think was This is not a good place to be. Furthermore, as she felt a foot against something solid and kicked against it to propel herself out of the cup, she discovered that she was right. The solid object against which her foot had been resting was the firing lever. And she was still in the cup. Had Kei been standing, or crouched, or virtually anything other than reclining with her weight evenly distributed, the forces involved would likely have snapped her neck. As it was, being flung through the air by catapult was only immensely painful, to say nothing of the landing. One again, Kei was very fortunate in that this one was only loosely wound, and used a low missile trajectory; the end result is that, rather than going up a hundred feet and being killed on impact with the water, she was only sent five feet up and fifty feet out. A stone would have likely gone much farther, but a stone does not fly the same way as a human. A stone would have gone much higher and likely broken through the water when it came down. Kei merely bounced off once then splashed down after she had lost her vertical speed. For just an instant, her whole world was pain. Imagine, if you will, skidding and bouncing off of stone at thirty miles per hour. Then imagine, as your brain fails to process the sheer volume of information your nerve endings are sending you, you are then plunged into cold water and, when you gasp to try to get back the air which was forced from your lungs by the impact, you feel only water flow into your lungs. That feeling is a rough approximation to what Kei experienced. She surfaced, coughing and gasping, eight seconds later when her brain finally realized what was going on. For a few moments it was all she could do to tread water and cough up salt water, but before too long shouting drew her attention. Glancing towards its origin, she was shocked to find that she was more than halfway to the Maiden of the Salt! She took another minute to get more air than water in her lungs before she started swimming. She had never liked swimming, but her parents had insisted on it, and Kei was suddenly very grateful for that. Twice exhaustion threatened to overcome her and drag her back under, but twice the excited, shouted encouragements of Shino broke through the thoughts, and twice she resurfaced and pressed on. When she finally touched the hull of the Maiden, several strong hands grasped her wrist, shirt, hair, anything they could reach and pulled her up to safety. She lay there on the deck, her gasps punctuated only by coughs until, after minutes of concerned silence from the crew, the rush of what she had just done sunk in. Soaked to the bone, exhausted, bruised and battered but utterly euphoric, Kei laughed. <<<<>>> > Kei was bedridden for the entire day but was making a speedy recovery. Most of the injuries from bouncing along land at high speeds are from the stone ripping off pieces of flesh or small particles being lodged in the skin, but in the water there was no such particulate matter, and as such the worst of the injuries from her brief flight were bruises. Ironically enough, it was the ten foot drop to the deck of the pirate ship which had caused the most lasting damage; her ankle was badly sprained. Yet despite this, she still fared better than the pirate longship; its fore mangonel had been burning merrily by the time Kei had reached the Maiden, and the only sail was ripped enough to need repairs before the ship went anywhere. The aft mangonel was the only uncertain factor, but by the account of the crew, the pirates had tried to crank it back down into cocked position only to find that the score Kei had made in the rope was enough to make it snap under stress. No pirates were wounded, making Kei's attempt at sabotage a failure, but only a slight one; the Maiden gotten away clean, its only casualties mere bruises and sprains, and even those were healing quickly. The crew was, in general, in high spirits. Rather than treating her with any sort of new found respect or fear, they simply went on as they always had, joking and laughing. The only difference was that now they could joke, 'What do you call a human in a catapult? A sailor!' or 'This must be Islandport's secret weapon; Kei by catapult.' While their words held no respect in the traditional sense, in a way it was more comforting. Had they approached her with a sense of reverence, it may have been satisfying to her ego, but their casual acceptance and gratitude went a step further: it said not only that they appreciated the abilities she had just demonstrated, but also that such a demonstration merely confirmed what they already suspected. They did not discover Kei's abilities, they merely saw a demonstration of what they already knew. Somehow, the fact that they had faith in her abilities even before she proved them made it all the sweeter. Daughter of Treason Ch. 02 In fact, the only one to never explicitly acknowledge her efforts was Shino. The rest of the crew had all made a joke at least once, but all Shino had said on the matter was, "You could have been hurt, you know; humans were not made to fly." He had tried to say it as a joke, but Kei caught the relief in his voice and tension as he tried to mask it, she saw the slight flex of his jaw and worry in his eyes, and that, for her, was the best reward of all. The coins she kept, and though it was a sizable sum of a few hundred gold pieces, Salty had told her to keep it. She had been about to donate the potion to the ship when Shino stopped her. "That- that's a bloodline potion!" At her inquisitive glance, he explained, "Many people have some sort of extraordinary ancestor ten, twenty, a hundred generations back. It's usually so far back that only the tiniest amount of their blood still flows through their descendant's veins, but these potions can amplify that blood and give you more traits of your ancestors." Kei paused. For some reason that was unsettling. "And how do you know if you have a bloodline?" Shino paused. "Well, um... you don't. Not until you drink the potion, anyway. That's part of why they're so sought after; not only do they sometimes give you powers or make you stronger, but they're also the only known test for it." That caught her attention. "Valuable, you say? How much would one be worth?" Shino blinked. "Oh, I don't know. Ten thousand gold, perhaps?" Kei gave an appreciative whistle, then a thought struck her. "I should tell the captain of this." <<<<>>> > Kei got her chance three days later. It was mid evening, and Shino had watch in the crow's nest. Kei had come on to the deck for a breath of fresh air and was surprised to find Salty at the stern, staring into the ocean behind them. Kei coughed quietly to announce her presence before ascending to the quarterdeck to approach him. She grimaced a bit at the first few steps; her ankle was still bad, but the bruises were healing well enough that she could rely on her hand to take the weight, as long as she stayed near a rail. Salty turned his head to look at her and nodded. "Good t' see that you're up an' about, Kei I'm still not sure how you survived that, but it's good t' see that you're fine all th' same. At least you got some treasure for you're trouble, eh?" Kei shifted uncomfortably. "Yes, well, about that-" "I told you, lass, it's yours." "-it had a bloodline potion." Tie passed. Salty had been smiling kindly before those five words, but now his face was one of deep thought. Finally, he said, "A bloodline potion? One of them blue ones?" The restraint in his voice was obvious beneath his casual facade. "Yes," Kei replied, "and I thought you should know what you were giving to me before I accepted." Salty paused for a good long while, struggling. It was a battle of wills with only one participant, and after a few moments the victor became known. "No, lass, it's yours." "You're sure?" asked Kei, but salty glared at her. "No, I'm not sure, so you'd best accept before I change m' mind!" The anger in his voice stunned Kei into silence for a few moments before she turned to leave. Calling out, Salty stopped her. "I'm sorry, lass. It's just that you're temptin' me in a way I haven't been tempted in for a long time. I just.... Have y' ever found yourself in a place where you have two choices? Where on th' one hand, you have something you've wanted badly for as long as you can remember, an' on the other you have what you know is right? It's the hardest thing, deciding whether you want t' be happy, or whether you want t' be able to look yourself in the mirror." Kei shook her head, frowning. "No, I've never faced such a decision before." Salty fixed a strange gaze on her. "You will. Everyone does; it's part of bein' alive. Just make sure that when th' time comes, you pick the right one, aye?" Kei's disinterested stare met Salty's intense one. "I'll do my best." Salty sighed and shook his head. "I can see I've lost you, lass. But that's alright. You just remember what I've said, aye?" The silence between them lingered, but Kei somehow felt that she should say more. The topics at hand were either wearying to her or else irritating to the captain, so she thought it a good time to change the subject. "This place we're heading, Beacon City, what can you tell me of it?" There was a wry smile tugging at the corners of Salty's mouth, but the ocean held his gaze. "There's much to be told, lass. What do you want t' know?" "A bit of everything, I suppose; I have a vague memory of hearing about it long ago, but I'm not sure how much I recall correctly." "Oh? Why don't you tell me what you think, an' I'll tell you what's so." "Very well." Kei paused, her brow wrinkling with thought. Beacon City, Beacon City... She had first heard it mentioned in economics lessons, how it had effected the rest of the world with its trade. "It's a trade city," she said, "founded on the only known currents from Halast to Miasis. It-" she paused. Twelve years ago, it had been mentioned. Whatever her father had brought over had come from Beacon. Her frown of concentration gradually settled into one of hardened anger. "It is very lax in its trading policies; what goes in or out is of little importance to them." "Close, lass, close." Salty stretched before turning to Kei, leaning on the rickety railing. "'Twas founded as a trading city, sure enough, not too long after Miasis discovered th' route t' Halast, an' like you said, it's right smack-dab in th' middle of th' only currents we know of t' take ships from one t' th' other. At first, it was just a small port for resupply, but soon th' local lord realized that he had th' sovereign right t' take tariffs on all what passed through. What's more, he taxed 'em for enterin' and leavin', which made it doubly painful. But he was smart, see? He said, 'anyone who lives here only has t' pay t' leave, not t' come.' So th' merchants what wanted t' trade across th' sea set up shop right there in th' city. That was th' start of it as we know now." As Salty explained, Kei felt some of her old lessons come back to her, the drone of her tutor so different from Salty's lively exposition, yet not entirely dissimilar in content. People had flocked to Beacon City for the finished goods and food coming in from Halast, but soon craftsmen and tools began to flow from Halast to Beacon as well. Beacon City was not only a trade city then, but also a rapidly developing industrial power. The relative safety provided by a secure island not present in most of the savage islands of Miasis was the final lure needed to turn the small resupply port of Beacon City into a burgeoning metropolis. It was still going through a boom, though growth was now slowing; 'were people go, gods follow,' as the saying goes, and the same was true of Beacon. As more and more folks came to the city, religious institutions gained more and more power. Nobility draws from the upper class, of which Beacon had relatively few. Temples, on the other hand, drew from the working class which dominated Beacon City's demographics, and so the Temples rapidly came to destabilize the central government, forcing the mayor to back down on policy after policy until all that was governed were taxes and the navy. Yet even that was not truly under mayoral control; the merchants, still having a death grip on the flow of goods, raw materials, food and people, could destroy the city with a small strike, and as such what little power the mayor still wielded was directed by the Merchant's Guild. While far from an ideal state of affairs, the merchants and mayor generally kept the ships sailing, and the various guilds kept all else working. The way Salty described it, the merchant districts sounded almost pleasant; Street Sweeper's Guilds kept the roads clear, sewers were kept running by the Tunneler's Union, and the Wizard's Guild had even set up a form of mass transportation based on circles of teleportation which allowed instant travel from one side of the huge city to another for just a small fee. But Kei was not interested in how the merchants fared. No, she had other plans. "What about the poorer individuals? Where do they reside?" "Th' slums? Th' southern side o' th' island, mostly, an' a few more in th' Industrial Shore on th' west side. Why?" "What's it like there?" Kei asked, ignoring his question. "Is there much crime?" "Crime?" He scoffed. "Crime requires there t' be laws against whatever it is that you don't much care for. But I know what you mean, lass. Aye, there's crime wherever there's strife, an' they got plenty o' that all over Beacon; what with the temples vying for power, coin being law, an' enough folks willing t' do what they think they have to just t' get their fair share, there's crimes enough t' be found. But I ask again, why?" Kei looked away. "No reason." She winced, hearing how transparent the lie was. Struggling to find something to say, she defaulted to truth. "I just feel like I should be doing something. Sailing with you has been wonderful, but it feels like something I've been doing for me. But I feel like I should be doing something more. Does that make sense?" "What, you mean t' go live in th' slums and hand out coins t' beggars an' the like?" Kei smiled. "Something like that." Once more, Kei gave off enough subtle cues that she would have caught her own lie in an instant; the gravity with she spoke, the tenseness in her jaw, the predatory narrowing of her eyes all pointed towards the truth, and Salty saw it. "What, you don't- You don't mean t' go try an' clean the streets all on you ownsome?" "Of course not," Kei said dismissively, "but I need to do something to help." "What, an' the pirates you take down while sailing with us aren't enough?" She shrugged. "They are some, but not enough; they are too slow in coming, and too unreliable." "Have you come t' enjoy the killin', that you got to seek it out?" "No." Said Kei quickly and a little too forcefully. "I just need to do more, find folks who need help as well as those who-" She paused, trying to figure out how to phrase it diplomatically. "Those who are beyond it." Salty watched her face as she spoke. She could tell that he wanted to dissuade her, tell her stories of men he'd known who tried the same, but he knew as well as she that such tales would fall on deaf ears. Instead he said only, "We've got another few weeks before we come into port at Beacon. How about you think carefully about what you want t' commit yourself to until then, and we'll talk when we can see th' island, aye?" Kei nodded, grateful for a way out of the conversation without any hurt feelings. "Yes, that sounds like an excellent plan." <<<<>>> > The remaining weeks passed quickly. The only close call they had was when yet another ship flying the Jolly Roger had sighted them and begun to close only to find, as they were nearing one another, a ship flying the flag of the Beacon City Navy on the horizon and approaching fast. After that, nearly every ship seen was either Beacon City Navy, with the rest being exclusively merchant vessels, mostly from Islandport and a few from Cromwell. So it felt like almost no time at all before the small but densely populated island of Beacon City loomed before them. Kei stood on deck with Salty; she was off-duty at the moment, for though she had fully recovered by now, only so many men could work the cargo hold at once, and with the moorings firmly secured to the port, there was little else to be done. Gazing upon the towering spires atop the island to the north and the squat houses in the swamps to the south, she turned to her captain of the past few months and said, "Salty, I think this may be where we part ways. Sailing with you has been a good experience, but I feel..." She paused, groping for words, before settling on, "I feel that there are things I must do, and that this is a good place to start doing them." Salty gave a smile which held resignation and admiration in equal measure. Pulling out a sack clinking with coins, he handed it to Kei. "Here. You'll need it more than I will. Just remember where you came from, aye?" Kei's smile was full only of gratitude. "I shall. If you ever need any help, you need but ask." The captain chuckled one last time before shouting with a wink, "Now get off my boat, you scurvy dogs!" Kei smiled and went below decks to gather her things. She didn't have much; her sea-chest held only coins, her rapier, a few daggers, some changes of clothes and a sack sack in which to put it all. The only hitch was that, like her, Shino was idle. Kei tried to pretend he wasn't there; she had little experience with goodbyes and less patience for them. It's just like always, she told herself, people come and people go. You managed before, and you will continue to survive. She had, days ago, toyed with the idea of asking him to accompany her, but dismissed the idea quickly. After all, what would she say? 'Join me in leaving the safety of the ship with no clear plan of what to do for food or shelter, simply so you can tell me if I become a monster like you said you would?' No, she could not ask that of anyone, much less the first person she had come to call 'friend'. So when she packed her things, she avoided the confused gaze of her elven friend. But Shino did not stay confused for long; he was a sharp one, and so within a few seconds he said, "You're leaving?" Not trusting herself to speak, Kei only nodded while focusing on neatly packing away her few clothes, but Shino's next comment caught her off guard. "Aw, and I was getting to like this ship." "Wha...?" Kei was startled into looking at him. His words held disappointment, but his eye held only mirth which spread to his tone as he continued, "What, you didn't really think I'd let you leave me behind, did you?" Now she was the confused one. She felt like she should protest, but all she could come up with was, "I don't know where I'm going." He smiled as he hopped out of his hammock and started throwing his own things into a sack. "That's alright, my people have always been nomads; I'm used to wandering." She still felt like she should say something, but no words came, so when she strode down the gangplank, rapier on her hip and sack of belongings over her shoulder, Shino was right behind her. At the base of the plank, she paused, gave Salty one last salute, then turned and went into the city. <<<<>>> > The docks district was, as far as docks went, not that bad; the amount of sewage in the streets were minimal, and the only shouting to be heard were laborers struggling with crates and, perhaps, a distant bar fight. But as (relatively) nice as this particular flavor of docks were, Kei had other places she'd like to be. "First, we need t find shelter," Kei said, speaking as much for her benefit as Shino's. "We may need to start with an inn; I'm not sure what property laws are here, much less how much time it'd take to acquire some. So for now the priorities are shelter then food." She paused. "For me, anyhow. Is there anything you need?" "I don't need to buy anything, but I would like to drink that potion if you don't mind." Kei slowed her pace. She had been striding boldly ahead, leading Shino along so she could feel like she knew what she was doing, but now she wanted to see his face. "The bloodline potion?" she asked, watching his expression, "Why?" He shrugged. "No reason in particular. I just want to know if there's any truth to the stories we used to tell each other around the campfires, that we could live in the desert because we were different somehow." His tone was light, but there was a certain tension in his voice; he was not lying, but she could tell he was trying to not let on how excited he was. "That's all?" She tried to make it sound like a gentle request for him to elaborate on his reasons, but instead it came out sounding like a challenge. "Well, yeah." Shino seemed a bit confused at her perceived forcefulness. "I mean, if you don't want to, it's fine-" his words said one thing, the sagging in his shoulders another, Kei noted, "-but I was just saying that if you don't want it, I'd rather use it myself than let it sit in a chest somewhere." Kei realized with a start that that his feigned disinterest was, in fact, his way of trying not to push her. While she would have told him in no uncertain terms if he overstepped his bounds, he was still trying to avoid pressuring her in any way, despite the fact that he seemed to really want the potion. A surge of gratitude flooded into her, bringing with it an alarmingly strong impulse to bury her face in his chest. Checking herself, she looked away under the muttered pretense about finding a place to sit a moment. For not the first time, she found herself wondering, What is happening to me? Spotting a few crates off to the side of the street, she motioned for Shino to follow and strode over to them. Taking a seat, she unslung the sack from its makeshift harness and began rifling through it. It took only a moment for her to find the iron-banded bottle containing the potion. She hefted it for a moment, musing that so small and seemingly insignificant an object could be the object of so much temptation. Shrugging off the thoughts as irrelevant, she casually handed it over to Shino who, with barely restrained excitement, uncorked the bottle, took a deep breath, and downed the contents in several large gulps. Kei hadn't realized she was holding her breath until both of them let out a sigh. Nothing happened. Shino frowned, looking at his hands. "Oh. I guess I don't have a bloodline after all." She was watching him closely. He seemed confused, but not disappointed. While one would expect that, given his previous enthusiasm, disappointment would grow and confusion lessen as time went on, just the opposite seemed to be happening; a slow smile began to creep onto his face, and he began craning his neck, trying to take in the entire unremarkable district at once. "Shino?" Kei was beginning to be concerned now; it had been thirty seconds now, and the vacant look in his eyes was unsettling. "Are you okay?" "Sure, sure I am- Woah." He reeled, staring at her. "You're some weird ass colors, man. I mean... wow." His eyes drifted shut as he went limp. Kei, genuinely worried now, was about to shake him when a spasm wracked the elf's body, toppling him from the crate. "Shino?" She knelt beside him, trying frantically to figure out what was wrong. "Shino!" Placing her ear to his chest, she heard both heartbeat and breath. A few passerby had paused at the commotion, and though none seemed hostile, neither had some of Kei's own assailants. Slinging the sack back over one shoulder, she grabbed Shino's arm and hoisted him over the other. It was an awkward hold, and it certainly didn't make passerby any less curious, but it would do. A few times on the voyage, the crew had been surprised at her strength; her 5' 2" frame was, while petite, nonetheless packed full of muscles. Some see a curvacious frame like Kei's and assume that because it is beautiful, it must be weak. What they fail to realize is that the curves can go over and disguise muscles, leading the frames in question to pack a much larger punch than expected, and this was the case for Kei. On numerous occasions, having foes underestimate her had given her the edge needed to escape. Now she only wished she were a little bit stronger; though he weighed less than she, 110 pounds was nonetheless a heavy burden. So it was no surprise that the first inn she came to was the one she chose. Daughter of Treason Ch. 02 It seemed to be a rather high-end place, which was unfortunate; Kei had been hoping for something distinctly middle-class, but 'choosers will be beggars' as the saying goes. The innkeeper eyed the unconscious elf disapprovingly, but schooled his features when he saw Kei had turned her attention to him. "How do you do?" he asked politely, mercifully in common Halastian. "Well enough." she responded tersely. "How much for a room?" "A mere gold piece per night, and they're fit for a merchant, they are." He straightened his already immaculate jacket proudly. Kei considered for a moment; a gold piece was steep indeed, but she hadn't the time to argue. "I'll take it." Fishing a gold and another two silver from her money pouch with her off hand, she handed the money to the innkeeper who smiled and said, "Thank you, good madam. I'll send some brew up for you and your elf husband." Kei smiled. Elf husband... That idea was strangely appealing. "Room 314; third floor, last door on the right." Kei shook herself. Her friend was unwell, and she was standing there thinking about silly things like being wed? What's happening to me? Taking the key from him, she muttered something which could be taken as a 'thank you' and proceeded up the stairs. She had to pause a few times to keep her grip on the poor elf without running him into the walls of the narrow hall, but ultimately she reached the end of the hall, managed to fit the key into the lock and turned. The door swung open and Kei was pleasantly surprised; she had expected the charge of a gold piece to be a rip-off, but the accommodations were quite nice; there was a sturdy-looking chair, a small table with a candle, and, most importantly, a large, comfortable-looking bed. Kei laid Shino down on the bed, removed the sack he had roped around his shoulders as Kei had, pulled off his boots, and repositioned him in a configuration which looked almost comfy. Kei might have been inclined to join him had she not been so worried. Closing the door behind her, she set her own sack down and thought on what to do. He was unconscious, but he seemed to be fine for the moment. Her mind began to wander, going over Shino's state and its cause. Was the potion misidentified? Could it have been a potion of sleep, rather than one of bloodline activation? This was certainly possible; although uncommon, rich nobles would occasionally commission potions of the traditionally offensive spell to combat insomnia and, more commonly, unsavory types would employ such potions in clandestine affairs. But even if Shino did mistakenly drink such a potion, he seemed disoriented, confused. So there must be something else. This she puzzled over this for quite some time before she noticed something; Shino was beginning to toss and turn, but it wasn't the restlessness of being close to waking; the frown on his face combined with a few beads of sweat forming on his brow told a very different story. Quickly taking a seat in the bedside chair, she put her hand to his forehead and, sure enough, a fever was developing, and quickly. Kei was by no means familiar with fevers, less so than even most peasants, but she remembered Vera and every detail from when the poor departed chambermaid's succumbed to illness. Be calm. Be calm. Closing her eyes to take a deep breath, she was startled into opening them again when she heard the creak of the door opening. She stood and quickly placed herself in the path of the door, blocking the innkeeper's view into the room. She accepted his drinks politely, tried and failed to present a convincing smile as she bid him farewell, and closed the door again. She would later tell herself that the reason she acted so quickly to keep him out of the room was fear of a contagion, rather than the simple desire of not wanting anyone to see Shino in such a weak and vulnerable state. As she was setting the drinks tray down on the table, a thought struck her. Darting back to the door, she opened it and peeked out. Seeing the innkeeper's retreating back, she called out, "I don't suppose you could send up some rags and a bucket of cool water as well, could you?" He turned and shot her an inquisitive look, prompting her to add with as straight of a face as she could manage, "to freshen up." It was only through sheer force of will that she kept the disgust from showing on her face at his coy grin. His face was easy to read; he obviously was convinced both that she and Shino were wed and, what's more, were going to be consummating such a relationship shortly. Had she dwelled on it, she might have found it odd that she was revolted by the innkeeper's reaction to such thoughts, but not by the idea of the act itself. But she was trying to ignore what she was feeling, to keep panic at bay so that she might help Shino in any way she could. First thing was first. Fever victims, she had read, should be kept cool, particularly the head. The wet rags would help with that, but if the fever continued to rise, simply leaving him lying there on the bed would be insufficient. Although it wasn't too bad at the moment, it had come on so quickly that Kei wasn't going to wait for the fever to spike. For a moment, part of her wondered if what she was doing was really necessary. "Shino?" Kei gently shook him, hoping for a response, but he didn't even stir. She sighed; he wasn't waking up any time soon. Propping him up against the headboard, she grabbed his shirt and began to wrestle it off him. She was frowning in concentration and using some of her sea-born cussing skills to note how much harder it is to take off an unconscious person's clothes than one's own when she heard a knock at the door. She rolled off the bed, eyes flashing in anger and cheeks flushed with embarrassment, and landed in a crouch only to find that the door was, in fact, still closed. Standing and silently rejoicing that nobody was around to witness her defeat at the hands of a simple shirt, she cracked the door open. Rather than a leering face, she found only a bucket and a few small cloths. But the self-satisfied whistling of a retreating innkeeper told her that there was a leering face, it simply had the courtesy to take its leering self elsewhere. Grateful, at least, for this small blessing, she quickly grabbed the bucket and cloths, set them both down on the table, and closed the door. Returning to her struggle with the shirt with new found determination, she was rewarded with a quick victory; the first arm proved to be the hardest to free from the confines of the garment, but after that one hard-fought battle the rest came free easily. Despite herself, she paused a moment to admire the fruits of her victory. While he would not be called 'muscular' by many, a lifetime of wandering had nonetheless been kind to him; his figure, while slim, was well-defined, the small volume only accentuating the presence of his strength in her eyes. Having ended up straddling him while working on his shirt, she was unable to keep herself from reaching out and placing one hand on his chest, feeling his heart beat. She closed her eyes and sighed, relishing the feel before tracing one pectoral up to a relaxed shoulder. She savored the feel of pure, albeit thin muscle under her hands before she moved on to the bicep; she was, while strong, well padded under her feminine curves. Shino, having gone through times of belt-tightening in his wanderings, was bone, brain and muscle, with little else. Unable to resist, both of Kei's hands returned to his chest, by far her favorite part of him. His arms were still distinctly those of a scholar, but his core still held the structure of a nomad. Kei leaned forward, burying her face in that chest and loving every minute of it. His heart beat so strongly, so warm... So warm... So warm! As she came crashing back down into reality, she threw herself back; she was here to treat Shino's fever, to keep him cool, not add her body heat to his by cuddling up on top of him! She mentally kicked herself and asked herself once again, What's happening to me? She was never this distractible before. It must be Shino, with his bronze skin, subtly muscled chest, golden eyes that made her- She gave a growl of frustration. Focus! I must focus on the task at hand! She seized one of the cloths from the table and, much more violently than was necessary, plunged it into the water then wrung it out with enough force to make it dry enough to necessitate another dunking. As she set about damping at his forehead, focus became easier; his fever was not only rising, but doing so very rapidly; she began to worry that she would have trouble keeping it down. Within thirty minutes, she had pushed aside her discomfort and removed his pants in the hopes of allowing more heat to escape, and within two hours evaporation from the warmth had claimed all the water in the bucket. Throwing a thin blanket over his waist for modesty's sake, Kei grabbed the bucket and took it downstairs, handed it to the innkeeper along with another two silver and said wearily, "refill that, and bring it up to my room, please." before heading back up. Within five minutes there was a knock and the door and Kei, too busy checking on a spot of irritation on Shino's forehead, called for him to enter. The middle-aged innkeeper's expression may have been one of combined disbelief, nervousness, and lust when he opened the door, but one look at the scene within and the idea of taking part in various carnal activities vanished from his mind. "Dear gods, man! What's happening?" Shino's skin had, by now, gone from pale to a light red tint, but the color was off enough to leave no doubt in any observer's mind that the tint was not a healthy pink skin tone, but rather something much less common. The sheets were damp with sweat, and Kei was examining a pair of irritated welts which had formed right on his forehead. Irritated, Kei shot him a stern look. "If you can tell me, I'd be thankful. Otherwise, thank you for the water, but I must tend to him, and it's easiest when I can concentrate." To his credit, the only emotion on his face was concern. "Do you want me to get a cleric?" Her worry was evident in her tone when she shook her head and replied tersely, "No. I fear magic is what did this to him, so I imagine the cure lies not in the mystic." Her expression softened a bit and she even allowed herself something akin to a grateful smile. "Though I do thank you for the offer." The innkeeper nodded and, after lingering a few more moments looking worried, accepted Kei's dismissal and left. For an hour, two, four, ten, fourteen Kei kept vigil over Shino, and though she was growing too tired to show it, she was grateful as the innkeeper stopped by every few to refill the bucket and, as night fell, bring her a tray with some soup. She had fished for some money in her pocket, but he had waved her away saying, "I only take money from folks who can give it. If you really want to pay me, pay me when he's well." By the twentieth hour, Shino finally seemed to be stabilizing; his fever had broken, and he had stopped tossing and turning and instead slept soundly. For the first time in nearly a day, Kei allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief. Standing and stretching, she noted that, though his face was relatively clean, the rest of his body was caked in sweat. Taking the cloth, she began to run it over his body, cleaning the grime away. In the absence of stress and worry, and in the presence of such a stimulus, the thoughts she had previously pushed away came back full-force. She lingered longer than strictly necessary on his chest, and as she worked her way down she found herself blushing. She was no stranger to what a man looked like; when, ages ago, her ancestors had emigrated from Fractoria to Islandport, they had brought with them a key secret to maintaining a large population in a small area; bathing. Though it was unlikely anyone remembered it now, communal baths were first introduced in Islandport by the Feyuni Family, and the tradition was so practical that it had endured. In the bathhouse, a curious child learns what makes a man a man relatively quickly despite their mother telling them "don't look, it's rude." She had even seen a few excited men from a couple times in which she accidentally barged in on something, but she had never seen one this close. At first she told herself she was only washing it, that she would move on to his thigh next, and from there the rest of his leg, but after she spent at least three times longer washing it than necessary, it began to grow and she began to grow curious. She continued washing it, now just to see how it would react, and was at once alarmed and delighted to find it rising up to stand tall and proud. As far as cocks went, it was no monster; at six inches, it was smaller than some, but to Kei it seemed massive. She ran the cloth up and down along its length, watching as the loose skin towards the tip peeled back to reveal a shiny helmet underneath. Fascinated, she reached out with her other hand and tentatively touched the tip. She jumped when it twitched, but quickly leaned back in, discarding the cloth entirely now, experimenting with how it felt. It was, perhaps, one of the oddest things she had ever touched. It was hard and rigid, yet at the same time it had some give to it. Near the tip there was so much loose skin around it, yet the tip itself was completely solid, the skin stretched tight across the little helmet. The heady smell of sweat still hung in the air, threatening to make her dizzy, as she experimentally wrapped one hand around the shaft. Cautiously, she began to move her hand up and down, and was surprised to find that the skin of the shaft moved with it. So perhaps this is what all that extra skin is for, she thought distantly. Shino groaned, and Kei froze; a dozen thoughts ran through her mind in an instant, from a horrified What if he wakes up!? to a strangely excited what if he wakes up!? She stayed still for a good thirty seconds, becoming very conscious of just how flushed she was all over, but Shino did not stir again. I should stop this. She thought, eying the cock in front of her. I really should stop this. But... just one taste. Just to see what it's like. Her heart hammered in her chest as she leaned in again. Her nipples were painfully erect in her bodice, and her pants were applying pressure in a delightfully uncomfortable way right on the apex of her thights. Loosening them, she took one last glance up at Shino, leaned in and took the head in her mouth. At first she was disappointed. Her thorough washing had, perhaps, taken most of the taste out! But as she kept it in, she began to notice a very subtle sensation making its way to her taste buds. There was definitely a hint of salt, likely residual sweat, but also something else, something a bit more... hot. Spicy. It was by no means strong, but there was just enough of a hint of it to make Kei wonder if she could taste more of it farther down. Logically, she should take the head out of her mouth and just lick down, if all she wanted to investigate was taste. But in one of the two times she had interrupted something and seen an erect cock, she had seen something part of her really wanted to try. She didn't know the word for it, but it seemed simple enough when she saw it; one person takes their partner's cock in their mouths and begins bobbing their head up and down. This, too, was something she wanted to investigate. Sure enough there was just a tiny bit more taste, and first few inches were easy enough. But after that, she ran into a problem; her mouth simply wasn't big enough. After experimenting with angles to no avail, she wondered what would happen if she just forced it down. Sliding the cock as far back as it would go, she felt a sudden heave in her stomach. Fighting it back, she swallowed to be sure that what she ate stayed down and was shocked at the result; more had gone in! Surprised, she pulled back and gasped; that far down, it was impossible to breathe. But this was interesting, exciting! Almost unconsciously, a hand slipped into her pants and began to stroke her slit as she took Shino's cock into her mouth again. Moaning around it as her fingers found her clit, it was all she could do to hold still a moment and let the feelings pass before continuing. Back home, after one orgasm the edge would often wear off, and while she could keep going, she generally lost interest. But right now, on her knees beside a bed, she had the strongest desire she'd ever known to continue! Rubbing he clit furiously, she tried swallowing again, this time managing to get almost all of it in before she pulled back for air. The subtle taste, the weird smooth-spongy texture, the smell of sweat, the thrill of trying something completely new, the knowledge that Shino might wake up, all this combined quickly put her on the brink of orgasm. Shucking her pants entirely, she quickly brought her other hand to one of her clothed breasts while the other began working a finger into her slit. She squeezed one breast, pinching her nipple much harder than usual in an effort to get through the fabric, and felt every sensation impulse go straight to her pussy. The index finger of her other hand circled around her pussy lips, gather some of the moisture which had accumulated there before dipping into her. Moaning, Kei redoubled her efforts to fit it all in. The room was silent save for the quiet squelching of her fingers at her sex, and the little gulping noises which escaped her each time she pushed more in. Up and down she bobbed her head, up and down, gathering courage and momentum until finally she forced her head down, swallowing all the while, fighting back the urge to gag until finally she felt the tiny hairs of his pubis tickling her nose. Drawing back just far enough to allow her to breathe through her nose, she moaned around the shaft with its barest hint of spice, and then something unexpected happened. She felt it first as a pulse through the cock still butting against the back of her throat. First one, then another, so quick that she wondered if it wasn't just a twitch. Then she felt a warm liquid splashing down her throat. Surprised, she pulled back, letting it flop back down onto Shino's belly, but not before shooting another squirt into her mouth. Shocked yet aroused beyond belief, she stared as it continued to spurt an thick, milky substance on to his belly in two more distinct bursts before it began to dribble out the tip of the cock slowly. Kei was so confused yet fascinated by this salty but slightly sweet taste in her mouth that her next orgasm caught her completely by surprise. She rocked back on her heels and her neck snapped back as her orgasm crashed through her. Pinching one nipple as had as she could, her other hand began thrusting her middle and index fingers in and out of her pussy as fast as she was able, making a wet squelching noise with each thrust. She couldn't speak, she couldn't moan, she couldn't even breathe; the only thing she seemed to be able to do was fuck herself silly with one hand, and for what felt like an eternity, there was nothing else she would rather bong doing. Finally, when it almost felt like she could take no more, breath returned, and her hand slowed. Giving a quiet moan of satisfaction, she noticed for the first time that Shino was moaning and babbling incoherently. Mortified yet at the same time somewhat hopeful that he had been conscious for the whole thing, she called out softly, "Shino?" When he didn't respond, she moved back up the bed and saw that his eyes were closed; he was dreaming. Not sure whether to be relieved or disappointed, Kei sighed and gave her pussy one last rub before retrieving the wet cloth to clean herself off with. She took her time, of course, but though she was most certainly in the mood to do more, now that she was herself once more she felt uncomfortable doing that in the same room as Shino. Especially when he's sick! she scolded herself. Pulling her pants back on, she resumed cleaning Shino and finished as quickly as she could before even going so far as to put a thin sheet over his lower body. Plopping down in the chair exhausted yet yearning for more, she buried her face in her hands and asked herself for the umpteenth time, What's happening to me? Daughter of Treason Ch. 03 Kei did not much care or the Transit Gate. It was large, hot, and the already close quarters were made doubly uncomfortable by the fact that everyone seemed to be pushing one another. Had it been just Kei, the only worry would be stray hands. Annoying, to be sure, but with so many around, she doubted any would give her true cause to defend herself. But Shino was with her, and all it would take was one slip of his hood, one overly observant punk with some form of darkvision to see his skin and horns, then the game would be up. Few would be bold enough to attack a short, curvy and beautiful woman in a crowded building. A hiding demon, on the other hand, was uniquely suited to turn a protective crowd into a bloodthirsty mob. If Shino as an elf had that effect in Islandport, I shudder to think of what they'd do to him here. Kei hadn't even wanted to use a Transit Gate; after her scare with his fever, she wanted as little to do with magic as possible, but he was so excited at seeing a spell institutionalized and opened to the public that she couldn't say no. It hadn't started badly, as only a few teamsters were in the building. "Look!" he had cried, after they payed the two silver entrance fee to get inside. "There's the exit platform! See, that's where the circle of teleportation at the Transit Hub is tuned to." Hustling forward in the extremely short queue, they had quickly reached the platform, but Shino had stepped out of the line so he could examine it. "See?" he said, pointing, "you can almost see the diamond dust they used in the original casting." He paused. "I wonder what they made the walls out of; stone should've interfered with the casting..." And so Kei was dragged out of queue altogether and, thirty minutes later when apparently every merchant on the island had decided to take their lunch in the docks district at once. The almost deserted building was suddenly packed witch bodies all elbowing past each other in an urgent need to get to a decidedly less-than-urgent lunch date. "Shino!" She hissed, tugging on the edge of the cloak she had insisted he shroud himself with, "Shino! We have to leave! Now!" She was glancing around furtively, though she didn't see anybody was looking at them. But of course, she thought wildly, anybody who saw a demon wouldn't want the beast to know he'd been looking. Shino finally began to move with a long suffering sigh. Kei slunk towards the queue, risked a glance backwards to ensure that nobody was following, and as she did so, ran right into a tiny man, causing an armful of scrolls to go clattering to the ground. At first glance, she thought him a child, or perhaps a young adolescent, but his facial structure was far from the baby faces and rosy cheeks of youth, and though it was hard to tell in passing, his hair was beginning to gray at the roots. All those signs identified him as a pale elf. That, noted a part of her mind dryly, and the pointy ears are a big tip, too. "My apologies," she said out loud, bowing down to help pick up the scrolls. "Oh my." Kei glanced up, thinking at first that by leaning forward she'd accidentally given him a view down her shirt, but his gaze was significantly higher. Glancing back, she saw that he was staring at Shino's face, still shrouded in shadow. It took her about two seconds to reconcile the fact that she couldn't see Shino's face with the fact that perhaps other species could. Damn elven darkvision! Standing quickly to block the newcomer's view, Kei grabbed her friend's arm and began leading him quickly away, but the polite but firm voice behind her gave her pause. "Just one moment, please." She hesitated; his tone didn't sound like someone ready to shout panicked accusations to a crowd, but rather like someone who had a vested interest in a new discovery. She wasn't sure which made her more nervous, but Shino was whispering excitedly to her, "Did you see his skin!? It's even lighter than yours! It's almost as light as the Cromwellians'! I want to ask him where he's from." Bowing to the inevitable, Kei slowly allowed herself to be turned. The older elf was still standing looking, if she didn't miss her mark, puzzled. "Come closer, please." Reluctantly, Kei towed Shino closer until they were just a few feet away. She was fingering her dagger nervously while the elf leaned in and peered at Shino, murmuring, "Interesting. I wonder why I wasn't made aware of this one's presence...?" She was restraining herself to merely gritting her teeth and baring his scrutiny until he moved his hands to Shino's cowl, making as if to lower it. "No! Don't touch him!" The old elf took a step back and raised an eyebrow at the younger one. "Your friend seems a bit nervous," he observed with a wry grin. "Oh, she's just trying to look out for me," replied Shino with immense cheer. That's because you don't seem to be able to look out after yourself! Thought Kei, but she kept her mouth shut. "It's alright, madam, I mean neither of you any harm." "I'm less worried about you than what the rest of these plebeians will think." She shifted her weight from foot to foot. "I doubt they'd take kindly to a demon in their midst." "Demon?" laughed the elder. "Don't be ridiculous. His horns go the wrong way, see? His go up, a Balor's go down." "Fine," spat Kei, "a devil then." "No," said the man carefully, "though I admit it's hard to make out the finer details on account of the hood, the eyes are a dead giveaway. Infernal ancestry would make his eyes solid, and perhaps glowing, but you can distinctly see a difference between whites, iris, and pupil in his. No, unless I miss my mark, he has some Efreeti ancestry." "Efreeti?" Repeated Kei dumbly. So he's not a demon? She thought, hope rising. "Yes," responded the elf, pleased at cooperation, "they're a species of genie." "So," Kei said carefully, "none of his ancestors were necessarily of an evil race?" "Erm, not quite. The Efreeti are... the most belligerent of the genie race." "Ah." Kei's face fell, but she steeled herself and made as if to wave her discomfort away. "It's not like a rabble would stop and debate his ancestry before attacking." "Oh come now, do you really think ordinary citizens would attack just because of something stupid like race?" Kei unconsciously tightened her grip on Shino's arm. "Yes." The stranger raised his eyebrow at Shino's grimace of discomfort as her grip reached painful strength, but she stayed focused on the older elf who said, "Alright, let's suppose that they would want to, and further suppose that they would be too stupid to know the difference between an Efreet and a Demon. Can you really imagine such a stupid, cowardly human revealing itself to so powerful a creature as an Efreet by giving a shout of alarm? No, they wouldn't risk such harm, they'd just skitter away as quickly as they were able." "No." Said Kei firmly. "I have seen how people behave. Logic only prevails if it is forced upon the situation." The older elf shrugged, obviously not convinced but not pressing the point either. "Perhaps a compromise, then? My office is not too far from here, perhaps I can analyze and register him there?" "Register?" Kei, having been almost lulled into a sense of relaxed debate, was on edge once more. "No." "But it's guild policy," responded the elf, his hands held out in a placating gesture, "that all major bloodlines be registered." "What makes you think it's a bloodline?" shot Kei without thinking, then immediately regretted it. "Oh come on, it's obvious, girl. He's far too elven to be an extraplanar native, and far too foreign to be anything else." "Don't call me 'girl'. And why should we go on any sort of record?" For the first time in the conversation, the other elf looked baffled. "Why, to add to the whole knowledge pool, of course, and to let us keep track of the effects of the various awakened bloodlines. And did I mention," he added smoothly, "that the guild offers a substantial reward to registering subjects?" Kei paused. "What is the registration used for? Who has access to it?" "Just for us to keep track of where outsiders are frequenting," he said, "as well as the tendencies of each race, such as which ones are prone to violent ends versus peaceful ones, business minded or prone to poverty, that sort of thing. As for who can view these records, only guild archivists and the Guildmaster, and even then only for official purposes." Still she hesitated. Talking was one thing, but once something was written down you couldn't take it back. "We could really use the money," murmured Shino, his excitement poorly concealed. Her desire for complete anonymity, a totally clean slate warred with the part of her which melted every time he smiled at her. The victor was predictable. With a sigh and a glance at Shino, she turned to the older elf and said, "Lead the way." >>> > The registration process was remarkably simple. The older elf, who had by now identified himself as Tellen, the guild's official Bloodline Archivist, asked a few basic questions; name, age, race, country of origin, type of bloodline, and current place of residence were the main subjects. Tellen was quite friendly and informative. "What most people don't understand," he said, "is that only about twenty percent of people have magical roots. Of that twenty percent, half are minor bloodlines, two fifths are moderate, and only one tenth are major. But that still means that one in every five people have a magical ancestor somewhere in their past; it's staggering when you think about it." Tellen continued to spout ideas and facts, and Shino was certainly taking a liking to the older elf. Kei might have too, if she hadn't been made so nervous by the magic all around. The Transit Hubs were unsettling enough, having the room and people shift around her when she stepped on the platform, but the Wizard's Guild had something strange going on. The large tower seemed normal enough on the inside, all desks and marble, but then they had been ushered into a room in which the only exit was the way they came. The door closed, and she felt suddenly heavier, and then lighter, then normality seemed to return. At least, until the only door opened revealing not the entry hall from which they had come, but rather a small foyer. There was something going on there which she didn't know, and even if it was a harmless subtlety, Kei did not appreciate being left in the dark. Shino seemed perfectly content to sit and talk shop with Tellen, on topics ranging from arcane theory to the aesthetic preferences of otherworldly beings, but mercifully concluded the conversation after only a short while. Had Kei been in a more receptive state of mind, she might have noted the worried glance he shot her just before he excused himself, or the unfeigned regret in his voice when he did so. But, anxious as she was, she was reading into nothing lest she worry too much about the magic around her, and as such felt only relief as the three exchanged farewells. Kei hurried out of the tower and through the Transit Hub, paying less attention to her surroundings than perhaps she should have. In truth, she wouldn't have cared much if she ended up in the posh Old Town instead of the Industrial Shore, as long as she got back to normal, mundane city. However, her instincts led her true this time, and it wasn't long at all before she and Shino were strolling down the well-worn streets of eastern Beacon City. Yes, thought Kei, this I can do. Cobblestones under my boots and sky overhead, where the only way you travel is by putting one foot under another. Simple, predictable. She did not think the word 'safe', for she still looked to the alleys for potential threats, but it was a familiar vigilance, and she knew that those who used alleys could also have alleys used against them; their shadows provide cover for escape as well as concealment for ambush. Yes, she thought again, this place could be home. >>> > The realtors were surprisingly helpful. Kei knew next to nothing about property, but did know enough not to trust either claims or appearances of perfection, and Shino's inquisitive nature, combined with Kei's knack for catching falsehoods, ensured that not much slipped past them. They had visited five houses in the slums and Industrial Shore in as many hours, but the sixth they found was promising. It was a four story building: a basement complete with heating furnace and indoor privy, a ground floor, and two floors of living quarters above. What was particularly exciting for Shino was that the ground floor contained a forge and a store front; he had been apprenticing as a blacksmith before getting lost in Islandport and was rather pleased with the idea of opening up his own shop. What was particularly notable about the building was the price. "Well?" demanded Kei, after the agent had finished outlining the property's features. When he only squirmed in response, she prompted, "What's wrong with it?" "I, ah, I'm not quite sure what you mean," said the agent. She rolled her eyes. "Oh come, now. You have tried to sell us houses half the size for the same price, and they were in the slums. You can't honestly tell me there's nothing wrong with something so..." she gestured vaguely towards the house. "promising." "I can." Well, no lie there. He stated it so firmly and proudly that she didn't doubt him. What did catch her attention, though, was that it wasn't the sort of pride one sees at being part of a group, but rather the sort one sees in someone who thinks they did something clever. "Ah, so it's not the house then?" she said, guessing. By the look on his face, she guessed right. "I didn't say tha-" He paused, realizing that he had almost implied that his precious building was less than perfect, however accidentally. "The house is fine." he said finally. "What do you think, Shino? Shall we go in for a tour and see what he's not telling us?" "I ah, wouldn't do that." Kei turned to him slowly. "And why, pray tell, is that?" He looked pained. "Well, it's nothing major, we're just, ah, having an, er, minor disagreement with..." he trailed off into a tiny mumble. At Kei's insistent glare, he repeated the last word in a squeaky voice, "squatters." She blinked slowly. "Ah." "It's not as though it's all that bad," stammered the agent, rallying again for a sales pitch, "they just have to be driven out and then it's all I've said it will be." "Drive them out? So we must risk our lives after purchasing the structure just have a prayer of actually using it?" "No no," he said, looking panicked, "you just have to call the guards, they'll handle it for you." "If it's so easy, why haven't you done it yourself? I'm sure you could charge two, three times the price if you could also assure the customer that they'd be able to use what they bought. If it's so easy to clear, why would you not triple your earnings?" "Erm, it's quite.. um... complicated..." He quailed under Kei's gaze. "Quarter your asking price. If I'm going to be gambling that they'll pick up and leave, I want better odds." His eyes widened, mad with hope that he might actually make a sale, then with dismay at the offer. "I can't! That's far too little, I paid more than that to get it in the first place!" "What, to someone who duped you as you would dupe me? Sell it at a loss, then. Consider that your punishment for trying to shift this onto someone else." "I can't, madam." He paused, uncertain, "but I could sell it to you for what I bought it for. Three quarters of the original price." "What, shall I pay three quarters for an elaborate suicide? Half." "I can't sell at a loss." He said firmly, finally finding in haggling familiar ground upon which to make a stand. Kei sighed. It was still more than she wanted to pay, but less than she though she'd have to. "Very well. Three quarters it is." The walk back to the realtor's office was a quick one, and the agent seemed impressed that they had the funds on hand. It had taken a large majority of their funds just to get the deed, and Kei reflected again how she would've liked to have haggled him down more. But the building was good, and a steal at its current price, so she decided not to push her luck. Particularly so when, as the deed was being officially signed over, the agent paused and said, "You might want to, ah, consider getting some more weapons. The sword is a nice touch, but you'll probably want things that are easier to hide." The corner of Kei's tugged upwards. Apparently he didn't realize that she still had four daggers stashed about her person. He continued on, "There's a shop, not too far from here. Kregic's. I think you might want to pay it a visit after we're done here." "And why's that?" asked Kei, amused. "Well, the squatters... They're part of a gang, you see. Even if you hire mercenaries to drive 'em out, they'll probably just come right back with their buddies." "Oh?" Kei cracked a full-blown smile, leaning forward. "And which gang is this?" "I don't know, that rat-gang or whatever they're calling themselves now. Used to be a rat catcher's guild before they decided taxes were for chumps. Now they're just viscous bums." As the final signature was added, he handed the paper to her but kept a firm hold of the key and said the first sincere thing Kei had heard from him. "You two take care of yourselves now, you hear?" Kei's smile turned predatory. "Don't worry about us." >>> > Kei flipped the blackjack in her left hand as she leaned against an alleyway overlooking the house. Shino was sitting on an empty crate farther in, but Kei wanted to keep watch, to know how many were inside. It was almost entirely inactive during daylight, but she had counted six people, mostly dwarves by the looks of them, by their movements in and out. It was two hours after nightfall, and it seemed to be quiet everywhere but inside their new building. "Shino? Any thoughts?" "'A kry'mj z'njan draz yr drayn kmaak." Kei blinked. That was nothing like the smooth tones of elven, its daughter language Pyrgian, the flowing sounds of Miasian, or anything at all like common Halastian. Its very tone sounded sinister. Turning her head to bring her unsettled gaze to bear on Shino, she said only, "Come again?" He responded in elven distractedly, "I said we should kill them in their sleep." He blinked. "Did I just say that?" She nodded slowly. "Yes. Yes you did. Are you certain you're feeling all right?" "I think so, I feel fine. I... I guess my mind was elsewhere and it just popped out." Kei nodded guardedly. "As you say," she allowed, "but see to it that such thoughts stay constrained to words. I will not perform any killings like a common murderer." No, she thought in a secret part of her mind, I will perform then as an executioner. "Well, whatever you end up doing, it looks like you're going to wait to do it." said Shino, pointing towards the house. Kei pursed her lips. While the rest of the world slept, the party inside appeared to be just getting started. One of the dwarves going in had rolled a remarkably large keg in front of him going in and had not come out since, and the occasional glimpse through the window complimented the sounds of merriment coming from within. She thought for several moments before resigning herself to the fact that Shino's suggestion wasn't far from the best one. "We wait for them to finally drink themselves into a stupor," Kei said with a sigh, "then I'll go in." She gripped her blackjack more tightly. "Prisoners first. I'll take every one of them alive, if I can." Daughter of Treason Ch. 03 The steel in her voice was to strengthen her own resolve, but Shino was not unaffected. In the dark, his brow furrowed in thought, but Kei was too focused on her quarry to see. They waited for six hours. Shino shifted and squirmed, and even spent four hours in the dreamlike trance which elves seemed to subsist on in the place of natural sleep, but Kei stayed exactly where she was, watching. At seven hours after sundown the festivities finally ran down, and a pair of obviously inebriated humans, a man and a woman being very friendly with one another, staggered out and down the street and the lights in the house were extinguished. Kei smiled. By her count, that left the four dwarves still inside. She waited another hour to be certain the squatters were asleep before she finally drew herself up and slunk along the darkened streets. By then her vision had fully adjusted to the near-darkness afforded by the new moon, and so peering into the window confirmed for her that there were no guards in the entryway. Not even a sentry. She noted, they must be secure in their dominance. Slowly, the predatory smile returned. It is time to relieve them of that delusion. The door was locked, but she had spent the day preparing; she drew from a belt pouch a pair of small picks, insufficient perhaps for a complicated locking mechanism but more than adequate for this simple skeleton key lock. Her inexperienced hands took longer than she might have liked pushing all of the ward levers into place, but after a few minutes of focused effort, she heard the satisfying click of the door coming unlocked. As she quietly pulled the door open, she heard footsteps behind her. Turning in fear of being caught, she saw only Shino, looking like a child pretending to be sneaky and having about as much success at staying quiet and out of sight. Waving him back angrily, she slipped into the house. The scene inside would have made many maidens blush. Kei, in her current state of mind, merely evaluated it tactically. The four dwarves were in two groups: one couple lay along the far wall, cuddling naked under their blankets, while the other, a scant two feet from her, were still a mess of tangled limbs. The woman lay atop the man, moisture leaking out from between her thighs, while the man snored loudly underneath. Some would see the scene and immediately start envisioning the orgy which surely had wound down only thirty or forty minutes ago. Kei saw targets. She slunk to the ones on the far wall, first. Being farther apart and arranged side-by-side, they presented a better angle for her blackjack and were less likely to wake at the clubbing of their partner. Pressing against the wall, she positioned herself behind them, raised the padded club, and brought it down hard. It connected with a satisfying thunk, but she had no time to savor the satisfying feeling of the blow connecting; the man had gasped awake at the sound. Raising it again, she delivered an equally powerful blow to the second dwarf, but this time relished the feeling of the blow reverberating back through the blunt instrument, up her arm and finally fading at her shoulder. She listened, waiting for a change in breathing that would indicate the others had woken up, but heard only the same relaxed patterns. There's a particular quality that predatory cats have as they approach their prey. The slink of their bodies, the care in their silent tread, the gleam in their eye as they near their quarry, the terrible grin just before they strike. All of this contributes to the meaning of the word 'stalk'. Kei did not move over to the remaining couple. Kei stalked. The next two blows came in rapid succession. Kei did not wait to see if the sound would wake the partner, but instead struck the woman once before shoving her firmly off and bashing the man. When he groaned, she seized him by the hair, wrenched his head up, and tried again. He went out like a light. It had been a mere two minutes from infiltration to conquest, nearly all of which was spent skulking around the house ensuring that she was now, in fact, the only conscious creature there. The main level was trashed, and the basement was not much better, but other than the refuse of the now unconscious inhabitants, empty. The upper levels Kei was only able to access through use of the key; while the thugs had changed the lock on the front doors, they had apparently been too lazy to bother breaking down the door to the upper levels, leaving that door intact; the second and third floors were clear and, other than a thick coating of dust and rat traces, clean. She returned to the front door, opened it and waved Shino inside; he seemed to be trying to stay out of sight in the alleyway where Kei had watched, but was both easily visible and obviously watching; she sighed, wondering if she should teach him how to escape notice better. Going back inside, she uncoiled the rope from her shoulder which she had brought for just such an occasion. The months spent sailing had made her good with knots, and it wasn't long before she had all four of them bound and gagged, naked as the day they were born, and in a neat little line in the basement. With the squatters temporarily disabled, Kei allowed weariness to set in. She had been up for nearly an entire day, dawn-to-dawn, and sleep seemed very appealing. Clearing a patch of wall opposite her captives, she slumped against it, sent the freshly rested Shino to work cleaning upstairs, and nodded off. She awoke to the muffled grunts and groans. Her eyes drifted open as she took in the four dwarves, one of which had fallen over and attempted to worm his way over to the heating furnace with limited success. Kei stood and stretched languidly, noting with satisfaction that he froze the moment she rose. She also noted with considerably less satisfaction that sleeping against the hard wall had produced some unpleasant knots in her back. Perhaps later I shall go and see what furniture there is to be had in town, she thought. But business first. Casually drawing a dagger, Kei sauntered over and twirled the blade absently in her left hand. Hoisting up the wayward dwarf, she dragged him by the bonds back to the far wall and pushed him none-too-gently against it. Shino, who had come trotting downstairs at the sound of heavy footsteps, looked relieved to see it was only Kei. He turned to leave before she jerked her head in a 'come here' motion. Kei crouched and, as she did so, noted with satisfaction that all eyes were fixed on her. Speaking with sincere calm, she said, "I am going to ask you some simple questions. Now, it's important that you answer honestly, for even if you get something past me, which isn't like, my friend here is a diviner, and I'm fairly certain that his magic will catch any false tales you care to spin." When she heard the chanting and saw the flickering lights of Shino casting a spell, Kei almost smiled; she was bluffing, of course, as Shino hadn't been able to afford any such spell. But one spell looked pretty much like another to her, and she trusted these thugs were no better. "Now, when you answer, you'll want to answer me honestly and completely, 'cause your lives may very well depend on it. Understand?" They gave no response, but then again, she didn't need one yet. She ignored both their nervous jerks at having a knife so close to their faces when she cut away their gags as well as their glares the rest of the time. They're not screaming. A good start. Things changed, however, when she approached the first dwarf, the one who had tried to slither away and who she had privately (if unimaginatively) dubbed Wayward Dwarf, and asked, "What exactly do you do as a gang member?" "Fuck you, bitch." She sighed and tried again. "What made you you chose this life?" "Do you even know who we are? We got connections, bitch. Your ass is gonna be mine, whore!" Kei moved on to the second one, Wayward Dwarf's lover. "What are your duties in your organization?" "Better than yours will be. When we're done with you, you're going to wish you were never born!" "What caused you to join a gang?" "So I could piss on stupid bitches like you." Kei moved on to the other woman. "And you? What compelled you to fall in with this lot?" "You better run, cunt, or else our friends are going to fuck you up so bad..." "Yeah," called Wayward, "and maybe, if we catch you, we'll show mercy and just turn you into one of the gang's cum dumpsters, huh? You'd like that, wouldn't you, whore?" This set the tone for the majority of the interview. After several minutes of cursing, backtalk, and creative threats to her safety, she grew tired of games. Ten minutes of talk and not an ounce of progress. She noted with a sigh. She thought for a few moments, heedless of the curses and jeers from the assembled peanut gallery, and silently reached a conclusion. Gripping her dagger more firmly, she caught Shino's eye. His eyes darted to her dagger, and she jerked here head at the captives 'They've no use any more.' she seemed to say. His eyes widened slightly in comprehension and, after a moment of thought, he cautiously nodded. My course is set. Casually, ignoring the indecent proposition Wayward was making to her, she strolled up to him and said, "You know, I had been hoping that you might give me an excuse to keep you on this plane a little while longer, but now it seems you give me no choice but to send you on your way to Hell." Then, without waiting for a doubtlessly snide response, she jerked his head up, and swiftly drew her blade across his throat. The cries of alarm which washed over her were met with the same impassivity as the blood; Kei did not pause, did not so much as blink as Wayward's eyes widened in terror. Even as he gurgled, Kei moved on to the second. Before the first dwarf had even slumped to the ground, the second found its throat sliced through with equal efficiency. "You bitch! You goddamn cunt!" the remaining couple was screaming, but they may as well have been shouting at a wall. "I'm gonna kill you! I'm gonna fucking kill you!" These were the last words of the second dwarven woman before she joined her companions. "What the fuck, man!?" cried the final dwarf, "We're just scouts!" Kei jerked his head up with her right hand, put the dagger to his throat, and hissed, "Is this really how you want to die? Screaming and pissing yourself like a dog?" "What do you want me to do!?" "I asked you some simple questions. Answering could have saved your life." She paused meaningfully. "Still could, perhaps." "What, like why'd I join the gang? I dunno, it seemed like the only way out of the poor house. That' why I'm a thug." At her silence, he babbled on, "I'm not special, I know that." Kei sighed, eased the dagger away from the frightened dwarf's neck, and rubbed her temples. Ignoring the wet feeling the smear of blood left on her face, she spoke, "This is why you should have answered in the first place. Unfortunately, now we're at a bit of an impasse. On the one hand, you don't deserve to die. Not yet. But on the other hand, allowing you to live will almost certainly cause you to lead others here, who might also not deserve to die, and then I'll have no choice but to kill them anyway." She paused. "What do you suggest?" "Uh, not killing me?" His eyes were wide with terror. "I swear I'll leave the gang, I'll go to school, I'll learn a trade, anything as long as you let me live." "How much does vocational school cost these days?" she asked Shino, who threw up his hands as if to say, 'I have no clue.' Turning back to the dwarf, she asked, "I don't suppose you know, do you?" When he shook his head mutely, she paused, thinking. "What's your name?" "Billic." The quaver in his voice gave way to full-blown sobbing. Kei waited a moment, but the tears only got worse. For several minutes the only sound in the room were his quiet wails and the occasional last gurgle of a corpse as the blood-filled lungs compressed. Reaching a conclusion, she spoke firmly, "I'll tell you what: Billic died this evening." Ignoring the sob of dismay, she continued on. "You," she said, pointing her dagger at him for emphasis more than intimidation, "are no longer Billic. You are now the best person you can be. You are going to be given a small sack of money. You are going to go to the docks. You are going to find a ship called Maiden of the Salt, captained by a fellow who answers to 'Salty'. You are going to approach him and ask for work, and you will tell him that Kei sent you. You will then work for him for as long as you feel you should to learn a trade, and you will then live out the rest of your life virtuously. Do you understand?" Not-Billic nodded mutely, understanding and hope lighting his eyes as the crying subsided. Cutting his bonds, Kei unhooked her money purse with her pocket money inside, cut Not-Billic's bonds, and handed him the sack. As he moved to take it, scarcely believing, she looked him square in the eyes. "This is your only chance. Don't waste it." Without gathering so much as his pants, he sprinted up the stairs, out the door, and towards the docks. Kei watched him go until he rounded the corner, smiled to herself, then turned to go back inside. Yes, she thought, this went well. She regretted the deaths of the other three, yes, but only in the same way that one might regret accidentally picking a scratchy sweater to wear; it's not ideal, but ultimately insignificant. And, though she didn't notice, a part of her was riding the high, reveling in her actions, both the ideal reversal of Not-Billic who she was certain had said nothing but truth, and the thrill of power mutely affirmed by the three corpses. She did not speak such satisfactions aloud, she would not even allow herself to think them too clearly, but think she did, and even subliminal thoughts can show. Shino was dabbing with a cloth at the rapidly growing carmine pool on the floor. "Leave them," she said with a wave of her hand, "they're not done bleeding yet." He glanced up, nodding, and looked again at a nearby body before he began to register the subtle cues. "Kei?" he asked, slowly returning his gaze to his companion, "are you alright?" "What?" Why would he ask that? "Yes, of course, I'm fine." "You're smiling." She blinked, and the subliminal smile vanished. "No I'm not." "You were-" he paused, apparently thinking better of it. "You've only had a few hours of sleep. Why don't you go upstairs and have a rest?" She shrugged airily. "I'm not sleepy. Besides, it's almost dawn, and we have too much to do today to be caught sleeping in." Her features had taken up a stern expression once more. "Alright," he nodded, still wary. "What did you have in mind?" "Well, for starters, I though we should see about getting some furniture." "Ooh!" cried Shino, his expression breaking as his eyes lit up delightfully, "and tools! I need some smith's tools. " Kei nodded, a much gentler smile taking the place of the old one. "Very well, and smith's tools." And some canvas to wrap the bodies with before I haul them to the ocean, she added silently, eying the corpses critically. She noticed Shino looking at her thoughtful expression, but he seemed pleased with what he saw, so she paid him no further mind. "Come, then," she said, "and grab your cloak; we can begin cleaning when we return." The two began roaming about, looking at the various store fronts and getting a feel for their new neighborhood. Where they lived, the crowd was dubious, as their house was very close to that gray area between the Industrial Shore and the slums, but in the daylight it didn't seem threatening. Regardless, Kei decided that the first thing they ought to get was a thick lock. She ended up leading him on a tour of nearly the entire district, finding places where she could purchase most everything she needed craftsman-direct and thus saving a bundle. It was somewhere between purchasing the blacksmith's tools and a shelf for the kitchen that she came to a decision, and it was in front of a matressmaker's shop that she was able to voice it. The attendant had just quoted a figure on a fresh down mattress, one which made her cringe, before leaving to let the pair discuss it. "You know," she said with a falsely casual air, "we could save some money on beds if we just shared one." Kei's disinterested analysis of a display mattress was betrayed by her blush as she spoke, and later, after a short silence which felt like an eternity, her anxious glance at his reaction. For his part, Shino felt like a kid in a candy store. "Yuh- Are you sure?" he said quickly, mastering himself. "I mean, we can afford two beds if you want, and I wouldn't want you to think that you had to- I mean-" he gave a frustrated sigh as he tripped over his own words. "I don't want to force you into anything!" he managed finally. Kei's own face has went from one of anxiety to amusement. "And what," she said, raising an eyebrow, "makes you think you could force me into anything?" Shino opened his mouth, paused, and considered the question for several moments before saying only, "Gained." She laughed before becoming suddenly shy. "I... If you don't want to, like you said, we can afford two beds-" "Oh," said Shino, grinning, "I want to!" She stared at him, shocked at his enthusiasm, and he seemed to realize what just came out of his mouth. "Er, I mean, it would be an honor- no, um, I mean it's only practical-" He tried on perhaps a dozen excuses to cover the truth he first spoke before he realized that Kei was smiling. As he sputtered into a confused silence, she withdrew from her pouch a few coins valuable, waved over the attendant and pressed them into his palm. "one down mattress," she said, then licked her lips and added, "king sized." "Thank you, madam," he said politely. "Where shall I have it delivered?" "Eighty seven Longstrider Row." The attendant bowed. "We can have one delivered this evening." "That would be excellent," Kei said with a heartfelt smile. Though she didn't regret her time on the Maiden of the Salt, she was looking forward to sleeping on something other than a hammock. And a down mattress! she thought, I haven't slept on anything so luxurious since I was a little girl! As they exited the store, she was practically humming. Her good spirits held her for the rest of the day, and by midafternoon they had arranged to have a meager, but comfortable, array of things in their new house, not to mention enough tools for Shino to take up his trade and perhaps start earning something. She sent Shino back to it, saying, "I need to bathe; you go back, perhaps see if anything has been delivered yet. I'll be home shortly." Kei neither realized nor, given proper time to consider it, would have cared at the images her simple deceleration had inspired in Shino. While he nodded, in a daze brought on by imaginings of Kei's ample curves, Kei was planning. She still needed that canvas, but she didn't want to shop too close to home. Repeated visits could arouse suspicion, and on top of that there were a few other items she might wish to purchase. New rope, for one, and something to hide her identity in should she find herself revealed again. Though she would have preferred to walk, she didn't want to worry Shino by being out too late; instead, she made her way to the much-loathed Transit Gate, payed the two silver grudgingly, and hurried to her destination of the Promenade. It had been said that anything could be found in the Promenade, for a price. Looking at the rows upon rows of stalls and doors, Kei was inclined to believe such sayings to be true. Canvas was easy and cheap enough to come by; more than enough for her purposes, and the rope she sought could be found at the same stand. But her quest for some sort of disguise took her farther in. Daughter of Treason Ch. 03 She found what she was looking for at a small, somber stand, apparently selling garments for funerals. It was all in pure black or blinding white and, given the nocturnal nature of her intended activities, she was just fine with midnight black. There were several options available, but ultimately she settled on what amounted to a full body outfit; snug trousers with many pockets, a thick pair of shin-high boots originally intended for soldiers, a long-sleeved and thick shirt which Kei opted to have altered to a less billowing and therefore entangling cut, a thick cloak with a deep hood, a scarf which she intended to use as a face and head wrap, and a pair of the most marvelous gloves Kei had ever seen. It was the gloves which had caught her eye to begin with; their material seemed to be some sort of silk on the inside, but on the palms and pads of the fingers some sort of rubber was nearly seamlessly woven in while the outside had a coating of leather to keep them durable. They left a small circle of skin right on the back of the hand exposed which, while not ideal, was for Kei inconsequential. Truthfully, she had seen the gloves, and proceeded to build the rest of her costume around it. It cost, as most things do, more than she wished, but upon discovering how much money she had left, an idea struck her. If she had saved such a substantial amount by ordering direct, might she not spend it elsewhere, rather than hording it? She thought first of Shino, no doubt helping to haul furniture into its proper place or else cleaning while she was here ogling the stands, then of the night to come. Filled with sudden apprehension, a though struck her; Back when Kei's foster mother had been alive, many of the new clothes for the household had come, indirectly, from the mood swings of one of Vera's employers. Some noble ladies, Vera had confided in the young Kei with a grin, when struck by melancholy or fear or nerves, would go on an extravagant shopping spree, replacing entire wings of their wardrobe at a time, and doll themselves up; the old, displaced clothing was usually given to Vera as a reward for her help. And considering this, Kei wondered if perhaps she wouldn't feel more confident if she had something more, well, feminine. Her thick work trousers were most certainly designed for males, and though her shirt was a true blouse, it nonetheless was more functional than flattering. Gazing, torn, at the money in her hand, apprehension finally one out as she decided, Just one purchase. >>> > By the time she arrived home, it was nearly dark, but Kei needn't have worried about Shino being uncomfortable. He was happily bobbing from one corner of the ground floor to another, arranging tools as he saw fit and sweeping the floor only when he needed a clean place to put something. His large cloak made him look somewhat like a broom-toting blob oozing about. Kei shook her head as she entered, and he looked up at her, eyes bright. "Hello, Kei! Welcome home!" Home, she thought with a smile. "Yes, thank you. I couldn't find a bathhouse, unfortunately, though I did pick up another few things I was looking for." "Oh! That reminds me! Come on, I have something to show you!" Seizing her by the wrist, he towed her, laughing, up the stairs up a level to the bedroom level. But, rather than going into any of the four bedrooms, he lead her to what she now recognized as a bathroom. There was a privy on one wall, but what was particularly notable about this bathroom was that it lived up to its name; on the opposite wall was an actual bath tub. Kei's eyes widened, and the thought briefly flashed through her head, I have spent the last four months sailing home and only now realize it. "It's a bath!" announced Shino as if it weren't already self-evident. "So it's alright you couldn't find a bath house, 'cause we have our own! I mean, we still have to haul water up from the well and heat it ourselves, which come to think of it could be a pretty big hassle, but still! Isn't this awesome? I mean, it's like we have everything we need but a farm in here!" Kei nodded, grinning before saying, "I think I shall test it." It wasn't until she was halfway to the basement that she heard Shino scrambling. He caught up just as she reached the basement. Oh gods, what is that stench? Shino, catching her expression, said apologetically, "Well, while I was cleaning, I decided to see if the heating furnace worked. And it does, but then I decided to see if I could cremate the bodies and... Well, with enough wood, it's working. In a few days, there probably won't be any traces but bone." "And the smell?" "Well, that is, I hope there won't be any traces." "Well," managed Kei after a few moments, "I suppose I shan't be heating any water from this furnace for a while, then." "Oh, you don't have to heat anything from down here!The stove shares the chimney, and the smoke from the furnace can heat the stove!" Kei gave a smile which, on account of the rank odor, came out as more of a grimace. "Excellent. I don't suppose you've discovered that we have our own well too, have you?" "Ah, no." She began walking up the stairs, more to get away from the stench than anything and said, "Well, we can't have it all, I suppose. I'll get started drawing water." Mercifully, the well wasn't far, only five houses down. Back in Islandport, Kei reflected, it was nearly a dozen. While such a small distance may not seem like much for a small walk, when every drop of water you wanted to use had to be hauled that distance, it suddenly felt like much more. Particularly when you had to haul twelve bucketfuls just for a hot bath. She heated three bucketfuls in one of the pots which had arrived earlier before dumping the then-boiling water into the tub. Smiling, she remembered what her foster-mother had always said: 'One part boiling for every three parts unheated.' It was not a complex ratio, and often paid for such simplicity with accuracy; Vera had always seemed to know just how much extra water to put in from the kettle or straight from the well to get the temperature just right; Kei, sticking to the ratio, ended up waiting a few minutes for the water to cool down first. Closing the door, Kei regarded the bath with a wide smile. It seemed like it had been forever since she had a proper bath. As she began pulling off her boots, her brow wrinkled in the effort to remember exactly when. Boots, socks, and shirt had all come off by the time she realized. It had been more than a year ago, now, in 1448, back when Vera was still alive. After that, she had been too frightened to have a leisurely bath, even in the sacred space of the bathhouse; instead she had gone through her hurried scrubbing in lukewarm water as quickly as possible in an effort to get back in her clothes and away from they eyes she had only partially imagined were upon her. There were no eyes now, and no threats. Besides, a part of her said, I have four daggers within arm's reach, and a rapier just slightly farther. If I am mistaken about how safe this place is, it will be a simple matter to remedy it. Relishing in the feeling of liberty, she loosed the wrappings from her chest and delighted in the rush of cool air on her breasts. She paused for a moment, letting her nipples harden in the cool air she had so long deprived them the pleasure of feeling, before wriggling out of her pants and sending her underthings to join them on the floor. Easing herself into the hot water, she gave a groan of satisfaction. Some pleasures are timeless, and for Kei, at least, there was no greater luxury than reclining, nearly submerged, in that tub. As the water relaxed the tension she didn't even realize her body held, she gave a contented sigh and let her mind wander. Her thoughts wandered lazily for a few minutes, mostly staying on the familiar subject of ships, before even her mind relaxed and went pleasantly blank. An indeterminate amount of time passed before she stretched and though, I've waited too long for this. She began to scrub herself down, so much more pleasant in warmth than cool, and her thoughts resumed their wandering. As she cleaned her groin, she noticed again the growth of hair down there, and frowned disapproving at it. Vera's explanation about 'becoming a woman' had been a hurried one, as the poor woman had been waylaid at the start of the day, and had skipped over some of the 'less important' parts, such as how it's normal to have hair places other than your head. Consequently, although Kei learned the truth when she thought to look at other women in the baths, she still felt that she would be happier without it, and with her new found privacy for the first time in more than three months, she was finally in a position to do something about it again. Standing, she bent over and unwrapped the parcel containing her purchases. She smiled warmly at the fine, off-white fabric therein, but that was not what she was reaching for. Instead she carefully plucked the much smaller package from within and refolded the parcel. Inside the package were only two items; a small bottle of olive oil, and a razor. The shaving was slow; Kei had sat on the edge of the tub to allow the oil to do its work, but the trouble came when her thoughts wouldn't stop wandering. Shaving is always a delicate process, made doubly so when of the pubis, and a distraction could prove very, very painful. What will happen tonight? After all, she thought, sharing a mattress is fairly common. But less so among adults of opposite genders. And I didn't say 'share a mattress,' I said 'share a bed'! Does Shino think I meant the other meaning?A pause, then more significantly, Did I mean the other meaning? Unbidden, an image of she and he in a passionate embrace leaped to mind, causing a definite reaction in her body. Growling in frustration, Kei pushed the images away. That is not what I need right now, she thought, handling the razor carefully. The going went more quickly after suppressing her thoughts so, though she knew she'd have to keep it up regularly; she had only bought the lowest grade of razor due to her previous abundance of hair, and so the shave wasn't the closest possible. But she didn't want to spend too much money for three separate razors, one of which she'd only use once. Running her fingers over her handiwork, the visions returned in force. And, thought Kei with a smile, now I am in a position to enjoy them. Her hand didn't have far to go; while her left began to gently stroke her slit lightly, her right trailed up from her leg, detouring to linger at and caress her thigh for some time before drifting over her stomach. Continuing its journey, it drifted yet farther to cup her breast gently, massaging the tender flesh on the underside. Her left was not idle in this time. The razor safely set aside, she started slowly, only lightly touching her rapidly moistening lips before running languorous circles about her mound. Her hips jerked sharply when she finally allowed her fingers to brush against her clit. Moaning quietly, she dipped a finger into herself, gather lubrication before returning to the delightful duty to the little nub. As she really got warmed up, she imagined what might happen when she ventured into the bedroom. She had yet to actually see the bed, so she left the details to her mind's eye. But Shino, Kei had seen, and though she distantly wondered if his transformation had made him any bigger in ways other than stature, in her mind it was the same old Shino. She imagined coming into the bedroom in nothing more than a light robe, something she didn't dream herself bold enough to actually do. He would smile at her, one of those rare expressions which was not amused enough, too knowing to be rightly called a grin. She would undo the sash which kept the robe fastened, put one leg forward seductively, and shrug off the garment. His eyes would widen, and then his usual grin would appear, delighted, drinking in her body but patient enough to wait. She would walk, no, saunter over to him, every pore practically oozing sensuality. His eyes would be glued to her hips, swaying hypnotically with each step, until she finally stopped before the bed. Finally his gaze would travel upwards and there eyes would meet, and the smile then would be far too tender to be simple lust. Gently, he would take her hand and invite her onto the bed, throwing back the covers, exposing his nude body to her. She would see those gorgeous eyes of his as he sat up and gently ran a hand over her reclining body, starting, as she had, with her thigh but ending with her cheek. His left would then meander about her belly for a while before moving up to her breast. Moaning again, Kei cupped her breast again before gently rubbing her fingers about her nipple, mirroring imaginary-Shino's actions. Her left hand picked up its pace between her legs, rubbing just a bit more vigorously. He would massage her breasts for a while before leaning forward and taking one nipple into his mouth, giving a moan of his own at some experience on his end. She would gasp quietly, but her only action would be to bring a hand up and pull him closer. He would flick the tip with his tongue (Kei's fingers followed suit) and gently catch it between his teeth (her own pinch sent her left hand stroking much more quickly.) After minutes of this exquisite torture, he would move up and kiss her. Kei did not know what a kiss felt like, but in her mind it mattered not; sparks would fly, an electric tingle would shoot into her lips. And then, without breaking the kiss, he would finally bring a hand down to her sex. Kei's left hand dipped into her slit, more for the feeling than for any need for lubrication. Thrusting a finger inside herself, she moaned in earnest and felt her hips buck, for a moment nearly losing her balance. Glancing guilty at the door, she snatched up a small cloth she had used to wash and bit down on it, allowing herself several stifled moans before her right hand to return to her breast. She twisted and tweaked the nipples as she envisioned Shino kissing his way down her body. In time, after a shiver-inducing journey, he would arrive at the gates to her womanhood. Kei increased the speed of her fingers as she imagined his tongue darting out, flicking her folds apart. Her right hand abandoned her breast, pulling her labia apart while she reveled in the feeling. He would continue this torture for only a few minutes before bringing his tongue up in a sweeping lick from the bottom to the top, giving her clit a flick at the end. Her right hand returned to a breast while the left withdrew from her dripping sex, resuming its ministrations on her clit. He would hear the gasp she gave just then and smile to himself in satisfaction, but just for a moment. Then, without any further preamble, he would dive in, flicking her clit around but mixing it up frequently with sweeps up her labia or flicking it apart and, occasionally, biting down. Kei's fingers began rubbing frantically, until, with a hard pinch to both nipple and clit, the pleasure spiced with just a bit of pain came like a tidal wave. Her entire body tensed, her hips jerking up while her head and body were thrown backwards. Her eyes were closed, but she would not have seen even if they had been wide open. She was so overcome with sensation that she did not notice the feeling of falling, and when, having lost her center of balance, her head finally impacted with the floor, she saw stars. The orgasm intensified. The resounding crack of her head on the bathroom floor did not register, nor did the dull thump of her body following suit; every neuron was riding the orgasmic high, the pain in the back of her head only adding to the clamor and, in such an overloaded brain, being confused for pleasure. As her eyes lazily drifted open and she became only dimly aware of the throbbing rapidly beginning in the back of her skull, all she could think was, That was a good one. Moments passed, and she realized that there was something... sound. Yes, that was it, sound, from the other side of the door. It was Shino. Kei smiled, wondering absently whether he could do that again. She frowned. But he didn't sound tender like he had moments ago. He sounded worried. What was he saying? Her name, she realized. He was calling her name. The door creaked open and Shino, fear written on his face. She smiled lazily at him, and moved to wave but her arm was, for some reason, moving very sluggishly. Kei lifted her head to stare at it in puzzlement but immediately regretted it; with a wince, she gave up the action while Shino cried, "Kei, are you alright?" "Ocourse Imalright" She mumbled. Shino, previously full of embarrassment at walking into the occupied bathroom, was now full of only worry. He had heard what sounded like a few groans, which he had assumed was her working out knots from the long months of heavy labor, but when he heard the crash and a much louder groan, he had knocked urgently, asking her if she was alright. When no answer was forthcoming, he had hesitantly entered, expecting and, in many ways, hoping to be waved away by a perfectly healthy and normal Kei. Instead he had found her limp on the floor. And very, very naked. For a single guilty moment, he had gawked. Those perfect breasts which he had hitherto not only never seen, but never even been shown the full shape of due to her chest bindings, were on full display and, from his angle, he could see every detail about her body, from said gorgeous breasts, to the flare of her wide hips down to her perfectly formed calves. And her sex, it- Shino gasped- it was completely bald, showing him in perfectly clarity her most intimate parts! He had shaken himself out of it quickly, and was immediately glad he had done so; her groan as she tried to lift her head confirmed his suspicion that she was hurt, and on a closer (and as professional as he could make it) examination, he discovered that she had hit her head, and hard. Her behavior only confirmed this; she was obviously disoriented, and seemed to be having trouble moving. For a frantic moment, he wondered what to do before finally deciding to get her in bed, if only to have her somewhere more padded while he worried over his next course of action. He got to his knees and sat her up, ignoring monetarily her groan of protest. Bringing one of her arms over his shoulder, he tried and failed to ignore the feel of her breast pushing against his side. Resolutely, he refused to look at it, instead focusing his gaze downwards, which was almost as big of a mistake; he could see the curves of her legs in his periphery. Focusing instead on only the feet, he began to talk her through the brief trek to the bedroom. "That's right, Kei, just put one foot in front of the other. Careful about that door frame, there. Alright, good, now that's it, just keep going." At one point, she stumbled, and he caught her with both hands. With the same distant smile on her face, she had murmured, "Shall we continue, then?" She could have been talking about the walk, but the way she batted her eyelashes at him combined with her tone- Ye gods, is that Kei being sultry? Shino thought, panicked- made him think otherwise. Oh yeah. I'm going to have to put her to bed quick, otherwise I might not be able to stop myself from joining her! Finally, they arrived at the side of the bed. With a twinge of disappointment, Shino reflected how much he had looked forward to showing it to Kei for the first time; she had seemed so thrilled with the mattress, he wondered how she would respond to the whole bed, complete with frame and blankets. But there was no time to lament lost surprises. Cajoling her onto the bed took a great deal of murmured instructions, but when he turned to leave, he discovered that she had, at least, recovered her motor skills; she had a death-grip on his wrist, and would not let go. Daughter of Treason Ch. 04 The battle, if it could be called that, nearly caught Kei unawares. She had just gotten some groceries, and was on her way back to the house to drop them off before setting off for more domestic wares when the sounds of shouting and steel reached her. Dropping the sack unceremoniously to the ground, she ran towards the commotion. The scene which greeted her when she rounded the corner was small enough to be properly referred to as a skirmish, with a mere two dozen participants. One side seemed composed primarily of dwarves, and was distinguished by a common weapon of the hammer, superior numbers, and, despite this, a greater number of wounded. Their opponents were much more mixed, predominately human in race, and were employing daggers, sickles, and a few shot swords for their purposes. Farther away, she noted a member of the second camp dragging away an unconscious man, likely felled by a hammer blow to the skull. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting; masked villains fleeing the guard, perhaps, or at least clearly defined sides, but here it seemed one could effectively switch sides simply by dropping one's hammer, picking up a dagger and turning on one's former comrades; only through intuition or close observation could the two sides even be known to exist, differentiating this from an escalated barroom brawl. Hand on her hilt, she felt she should intervene, but wasn't sure for which side, let alone how to begin. "Halt!" she shouted, striding towards the conflict, but if the bodies in the melee heard her, they gave no sign. She was practically within the chaos when she cried again, "Stop, I said!" This time, someone did notice, but she had the attention of a man who, having scored a deep cut on a hammer-wielding foe who now was hobbling away, merely attempted to stab her. Her dodge was automatic, turning to the side and batting the short sword off-course with her free hand. Her counterattack, by means of an elbow to the face, was much more measured. She took the opportunity of his momentary pain to draw her own weapon, but in such close quarters, by the time she managed to face him in a decent offensive stance, he had recovered. Grinning wildly, he attacked again. He was obviously untrained, but his power- rather than speed-based cuts and thrusts took considerable force to parry with her much lighter sword. She found herself switching into a defensive stance but, a part of her knew, she was far from losing. When the inevitable opening came, in this case brought about by an overextended lunge exacerbated by bad footwork, it was a small thing to bat the sword aside and step in, sinking the tip of the rapier into her assailant's stomach. It was a deep wound, one which required Kei to yank the sword hard to free it from the man's gut. He went down, and Kei finally noticed that more and more dwarves, hammers in hand, were streaming in from nearly all angles, routing the blade-wielding group. "That's right y' bastards! This is our land, and if you show up here again, you'll get more o' the same!" The dramatic effect of the bold dwarf's words was perhaps undermined by the groans of the wounded around him. "What," Kei asked slowly, drawing the fallen man's shirt over her blade to remove the blood, "was that all about?" The dwarf glared at her, noticing her for the first time. "Which side are you on?" He was eying her rapier like it might bite him. "My own," she replied, frustration giving menace to her voice, "and I don't hesitate to defend myself if attacked, as this gentleman here can attest. I ask again: what was the reason for this battle?" "What, you didn't know? These rats were tryin' to muscle in on our territory, trying to extort the folks that live here. 'Protection money,' they call it, of the 'your money or your life' variety." Kei nodded. "And who are you who fights them?" "Me? Kressik, potter, Craftsman's Guild." "And your comrades, are they also...?" "Members o' the Craftsman's Guild? Of course! You can tell by the hammers, y' see. Every member carries one, for just such an occasion." Kei nodded, filing the information away for future reference. "You referred to this as your 'territory'. What makes it yours, and worth fighting for?" "Well, it's not really ours, see, but it's under our protection. It's a fairly standard arrangement, really. You know the kind." "I arrived here only recently," she said dryly. "Enlighten me." "Well," he said, looking uncomfortable. "It works like this. Members who've joined pay a small fraction of their raw earnings to the guild. In return, we protect them and their families." "It sounds suspiciously similar to the Rats' arrangement." observed Kei, gauging his reaction. "It's nothing of the sort!" asserted Kressik indignantly. "The Rats threaten! We just protect our own." Kei's eyebrow raised. "And every house on this street houses a member?" "Well, no, but when enough of us are living in an area as small as this one, it's easier to protect the area than to pick and choose amongst the houses." "And the non-members? Do you charge them as well for this service?" "Not really. We're not wanting for money that much, and the guildmasters say recruitment can never start too early, and most o' the kids here will remember who looked out for 'em later on." "Indoctrination, then?" "No! It's nothing of the sort!" he repeated, flustered. Kei finally cracked a smile. She was enjoying getting this dwarf so worked up. She had been trying to conceal her merriment, but when his expression began to turn hurt, she let up. "Ah. Perhaps I was mistaken," she said, waving her hand as if to dismiss her own accusation. "The Craftsman's Guild has a headquarters of some sort, I presume? Where is it?" "The Guildhouse's location is kept secret." Kressik, still smarting from her earlier implications, was on guard. "Why, are you planning on joinin'?" "I have a friend who is interested," lied Kei, and sensing that he wasn't buying it, she changed the subject. "You mentioned that the Rat Gang was trying to 'muscle in' on your territory. Do they have any of their own?" "Yes, of course. Most o' the slums belong to them." "They've conquered that much territory?" asked Kei, but Kressik looked uncomfortable. "Well, yes, but it's more that they actually own most o' the slums. They used to be a guild, y' see, but when they officially disbanded, they gave their holdings to various lieutenants. Despite being gone on paper, they still functioned as a group, letting them weasel their way out of the Guild Tax, and only at the expense of legitimacy. After that, they realized they could harass landlords and buy up their estates, cheap. So, in a way, they do own most of the slums." "Where are their headquarters?" "Well, since they don't exist, they don't really have one. Their last known leader, Eric, turned up face-down in the bay. The guards investigated, of course; twelve stab wounds to the back, and all. Said it was the worst suicide case they'd ever seen." Kei made a face. "Well, do the members know?" He shrugged. "They might, but they're sure not telling me." An idea sprung into her mind. "Thank you," she said quickly, "that's all I needed to know." As she darted from body to body, ignoring the dwarves as one of their own clerics wandered about casting healing spells, Kressik asked cautiously, "What is it you're doing, lass? Searching for coin?" "No," she replied simply before finding a man knocked thoroughly unconscious and bleeding, but not yet passed on. She tore off a strip of the man's shirt and, after a few failed attempts, made a crude bandage of it. "You're... healing them? After wounding them in the first place?" "I didn't wound these ones," she noted dryly, but he seemed unconvinced. "You're daft." She declined comment, opting instead to unceremoniously hoist the unconscious man over her shoulder. "Thank you for your time," was all she said as she lumbered off. By the time she arrived home, she had worked up a good sweat. She'd abandoned the groceries not too far from the battle. Loathe as she was to abandon goods she didn't have to, the body over her shoulder was conspicuous and carrying the sacks too would have slowed her down and put her more at risk for unwelcome attention despite her attempts to stick to back alleys. Shino, who had been roaming about trying to line up a buyer for anything he might make, was currently in his place at the forge upon her entrance. "Oh, hi, Kei! Welcome... home?" He had just looked up and seen her burden, and as she was unsure herself exactly why it was she wanted information from this man, she had no desire to explain her intentions. "Hey, Shino. I had to leave my bags in an alley off of Crescent Lane and Yorik's Street. May I ask you to get them for me?" Shino blinked. "Yeah, sure, anything." He didn't move to leave, and his eyes were curious and focused on the man. She could tell he wanted an explanation, and she hoped her silence would be a clear denial of one. When he still didn't move, she prompted, "They're in a crate. I carved an X into its side, which should make your job easier." Recognizing the dismissal, and eyes tinged with what she thought to be undue worry, he took the cue. "Alright, thanks." Rising, he strode around the forge and out the door, but he paused just outside, turning and saying, "You know, Kei, that I'd always be happy to help you, right?" She smiled warmly at him. "I know." "And you know you can ask me anything, right?" Her smile grew. "I know, Shino. I'll see you in a bit." Though he still seemed uncomfortable, he took the second dismissal, turned, and left. Kei closed the door behind him and considered her next move. Ultimately, she chose the basement. As awful as the stench was, she would rather avoid painting her bedroom red, and blood on the ground floor might disturb any customers who wandered in, so she would have to endure the smell. She tied him up with the same ropes as before, and made a mental note to clean them later; a few flakes of dried blood still remained, and if she let them become soaked again, they might begin to rot. After securing the prisoner who, she was confident, would not wake up for some time, she drew water from the well, filled a tub in the basement, and went upstairs to change. She had bought the black outfit for just this purpose; the only skin which showed was the backs of the hands and a narrow strip around the eyes. Plus, the head wrapping muted the smell somewhat. All this took a mere half hour, and her prisoner showed no sign of waking up. Kei, not one to be idle for long, and scrubbed nearly a quarter of the floor clean when the captive came to. She took her time finishing up; the blow to his head made his return to lucidity slow, and she imagined that there was a particular menace which can be found in meticulous care. She strode over to the wall where he lay, bound. "You're awake." She noted. "Good." His eyes were frightened, something which bode well. "I will ask you some questions. If the answers are unsatisfactory, you will be punished. If you lie, you will be punished. If you talk back, you will be punished. If, at the end of this interview, I judge that you have been less than entirely forthcoming, by omission or otherwise, you will be punished. Do you understand?" Mutely, he nodded his head and she removed the gag. He didn't scream or cuss, which she took as another good sign. "Let's begin." She knelt in front of him, resting easily on one knee. "You were wounded in a battle. I brought you here and healed you. Do you remember the battle?" He nodded, but caution kept him from speaking. Kei's only prompt was a calm, "Tell me about it." The words, once they started, came in a flood. He described the skirmish, giving names to his comrades, motive to his actions, and the place they had all met. Kei silently filed all these away in her mind for future reference. But when he spoke of his family, he had her full attention. "I had to get money somehow, and the rats paid the best. Money is still tight, so what else could I have done?" He had, hitherto, been running out of new information and, therefore, out of uses. Her hand, which had been drifting towards dagger, froze. "Your family. Tell me about them." She had said it mainly to keep him on the defensive and buy herself time to think, but she hadn't anticipated his vivid description of Ethan, his beautiful son who was the best stickballer for blocks, his wife Marian who would kiss the son on the head every night and every morning, his daughter who- "Do you have any vocational training?" she asked desperately, trying to stop the emotionally charged descriptions so she could think clearly. Training? Why yes, he had been trained as a chef. It was back in 1451... Kei's mind, meanwhile, was racing. This man had fallen in with bad types, that much was clear. But he seemed to (and she believed that he did) do so only for the sake of his family. "There's an 8 gold entrance fee," he was saying, "and I was saving up until Isabel got sick and we had to spend it to hire a cleric. I usually end up cooking for the gang's parties anyway, so I probably could have made it back in two months, but by then Isabel would have been too far gone. The Cook's Guilds pays well, but it's just so hard to get in...." No, he had done bad things, but he could still be saved. If he had been unrepentant, or unable to stop, she could have slain him then and there, content that it would mean one less thug on the street. But, to her secret disappointment, he could be saved, and easily, too. Though, thought Kei, at the cost of our dwindling supply of money. I hope Shino gets his shop set up soon. "Stop," she said evenly, causing him to freeze mid-sentence. "You have been honest, and though your actions are deplorable, your motives are just. However, if you continue to follow the rat gang, you will die. It is possible that I will kill you myself." He seemed about to give a despairing protest, but it was not needed. "Fortunately, you seem to have the inclination and skill to switch careers. I will give you the funds. I will leave you outside your house, eight gold the richer. This is your chance to change. I trust you'll make full use of it." He nodded, and she felt suddenly weary. Smoothly, readying her sap behind her, she pointed with her right hand at a spot on the wall next to his head. "Look there." Obediently, he turned to obey exposing his neck. Kei brought the club down and managed to make it relatively painless for the cook by hitting the soft spot at the base of the skull, knocking him out without having to beat his head too hard or too much. He went out like a light, and Kei gave a sigh and rubbed her temples. She did not consider the fact that sparing someone had been a disappointment, nor did she question why she seemed to be preparing to dismantle the Rat Gang piece by piece; the human mind protects itself from unpleasant truths, and denial is the first line of defense. Instead she wondered morosely how many of the corrupt organization were good men, the kind she would be forced to spare. And bribe back to virtue, she noted dryly as she counted out eight gold and slipped it into the unconscious man's pockets. A voice interrupted her thoughts. "That's a good thing to do." Kei spun, startled, and found Shino staring at her intently. "How long have you been there?" "A few minutes," he said dismissively before closing the distance between them in two steps and shocking her by taking her hands in his and saying, "It's alright, Kei." Her mind froze, then lurched into a sprint. He knows? About how I wanted to kill that man? And says it's alright? He said he would tell me if I became a monster; if he says it's alright, does that mean it's alright to kill the man, or only alright to want to? Should- "We can make the money back." Her thoughts ground to a halt and she felt like a man whose horse had suddenly decided to turn left and neglected to inform the rider. "I think I can get a job," he continued, "so we can make it back. And I don't mind that you're spending my money; it's going to a good cause, right?" He's talking about money? Her confusion turned briefly to irritation, then guilt as what he said sunk in. She hadn't even thought about whose money she was spending, she had just taken charge of all currency. "I- I hadn't intended to give him money." She stammered. As far as defenses went, it was a piss poor one, but as with the cook's protest, it was unneeded. "But then you saw how much good you could do. Really, Kei, it's fine." He was smiling so sincerely that her guilt intensified. Groping for a change of subject, she hazarded, "You said you found a job?" "Yes! Wait, no. Well," he said with a sheepish grin, "sort of. I learned that there's a guild which will buy most of my wares if I can't sell them, albeit at reduced price." Kei smiled. "Good!" It would be a relief to have some positive cash flow again. Being low on money felt like being cornered, a feeling as familiar to her as it was uncomfortable. That, and if she admitted it to herself, there were several more things she might want to buy. "Yeah the Craftsman's Guild is pretty nice. Now I just need to find a member to sponsor me." "The which guild?" "Craftsman's Guild. It seems right up my alley and- Kei? Are you alright?" Kei, who had let lose a groan, mutely shook her head. After another gentle query, she responded, "This guild. It's been having troubles lately." While Shino digested this, she continued, "The Rat Gang has been harassing them." "Oh." "I suppose the best thing to do is give them something else to think about than the Craftsman's Guild. They've been around for long enough that stirring up popular opinion seems unlikely to work, if it's possible at all. I suppose," she said, thinking out loud and gaining momentum, "I could start capturing their members one at a time, but if they don't find out that it's me, they won't be distracted, and if they do, we'd be in trouble. Just harassing them from the shadows won't do enough. I'll have to give them something to chase." "Uh," said Shino, "I could just try and find another job-" "Letting them scare you away means they've won." Polarization, too, protects the mind from difficult truths. "Besides, it's but a small matter." "What, you're going to sick them on some scapegoat?" "Hardly," she said with a snort. "No, if they have a target they will pursue it fervently, but will silence said target quickly. Such a distraction would be, while effective for its duration, far too short-lived to be useful. Unsolved mysteries, on the other hand, tend to hold attention for quite some time, sometimes long after the mystery is even active. Am I going to sick them on a scapegoat?" she asked with a smile. "No. I'm going to sick them on a goat." >>> > The slums were more alive than the docks were, something which was made doubly concerning by the typically unhappy tone of many of the noises. The imposing house before her, once a mansion but now far too run-down to be called that, was a source of both light and the sound of revelry. The occasional shout suggested that a party was in full chaotic swing. The windows uniformly had iron bars, and the roof looked solid. The door was a sturdy wood slab, the sort of which seemed to refuse to move for anything short of a battering ram. All this only convinced Kei that she had found the right place. It was a small thing to slip up next to the door. She did not intend to enter; indeed, the lack of any locking mechanism made her believe it was barred from the other side. Instead, her plan called only for her to draw out a neatly composed letter and pin it firmly to the door with a dagger. Though she didn't look at it as she faded away into the alleys once more, she knew what it said. Indeed, she had expended considerable effort to write it with just the right amount of menace in the first place. It read: Daughter of Treason Ch. 04 "Attention, prominent personages of the Rat Gang: "It has come to my attention that you have been recently attacking both Craftsman guild members and attempting to seize control of territory under the protection of the guild proper. While the running of your guild is your own affair, this belligerent expansionism is unacceptable. Therefore, let it be known that for every life the Rat Gang takes from the Craftsman Guild, through direct skirmishes or indirect bounties, one life shall be taken from this residence until none remain. Furthermore, in the event that I snuff every life in this building, I shall find new hunting grounds from which to exact justice. "I will be watching." At the bottom was, in a sloppy stamp, the Feyuni family crest, made with Kei's very own signet ring. Initially, she had kept it first as a reminder of her mother then, when Vera passed away, her foster-one. Now, for the first time, she had found a use for it, and so she kept it for herself. As she made her way back towards home she would have been whistling if anyone had ever taught her how. Yes, she thought, things are certainly looking up. The rest of the day passed uneventfully; as promised, Kei had dropped off the soon-to-be cook at his house just before posting the letter, leaving her free for the rest of the day. She had changed back into her old work clothes and set to work cleaning. She hummed happily as she scrubbed out the basement, sang wordlessly when cleaning the ground floor, and remembered some of the lyrics when she got to the second story. "Hush, my child, the sun is setting, "the moon rises over the sea. "And silent Sandman is meting "out his fine sandy grains of sleep." She paused, finding the next lyric on the tip of her tongue, but her thoughts were interrupted when, from the doorway behind her, Shino said, "That's a pretty song. Where did you learn it?" Kei blushed. "My mother." Shino smiled and nodded, moving around to lean against the wall before her. "Hey," he said in a surprised tone, "I don't think you've told me much about your family." Kei shrugged. "I don't think much about them." Her neutral tone seemed to only provoke curiosity, prompting her to explain, "They're dead." "Oh." Shino's face fell, and her own good spirits sagged. She didn't like stopping Shino from smiling. Immediately, she began to think of ways to cheer him back up. Remembering how excited he had been at setting up the forge, an idea popped into her head. "Hey Shino," she said, a grin forming, "want to go for a walk?" >>> > The shop was small but cluttered. Pottery stood on shelves which crowded the ceiling. The jars, vases, bowls, cups and ceramics of all kinds seemed to be very well made, though only a few were painted, and those that were seemed to be colored only sloppily. Nonetheless, all were functional and, Kei might guess, sturdy. "Kressik?" she said uncertainly. She called twice more before a rough voice shouted back, "Keep your pants on, I'm comin'!" A few minutes later, a familiar dwarf wearing a heavy work apron appeared, took a look at her and blinked. After a few moments of silence, he said, "So, it's the lass with her own side. I take it you have more questions?" "Not exactly," said Kei. The walk over had made her uncomfortable. "I have a friend who's interested in joining the Craftsman's guild. "Good t' hear." Kressik waited for her to continue. She didn't. He waited as long as his dwarven patience would allow which, in this case, amounted to roughly four seconds. "Where is he?" "That's the thing," she said, shifting her weight from foot to foot and sincerely regretting the very idea she was presently pursuing. "He's interested but he... is different." Now it was the dwarf's turn to be amused. "We don't discriminate here, lass. Not against Halastians, Miasians, dwarves or humans." "He's an elf, actually, but that's not the source of my concern-" "Ah, an elf!" he said, face brightening. "I know a few elves. One of 'em is one o' the best craftsmen I know." "Yes," she said, still unconvinced, "well-" "He is?"Interrupted an excited voice. "Can I meet him?" Kei winced as Shino, hood down, stepped out from behind a shelf. "I thought I told you to stay hidden until I determined it was safe." She hissed. "Don't worry," he said to Kei who, despite herself, was worrying, "he said they don't discriminate, so it should be safe. Besides, he said he knows a really skilled elf!" Kei's hand was hovering around her dagger, and she felt like the owner of an adorable puppy which loved to chase after carriages and didn't seem to realize the peril it so cheerfully put itself into. But Kressik seemed unshaken, if a bit cautious. "Come here, lad. Let me have a look at you." As he inspected Shino, she grew more and more agitated; she picked up a mug and began shifting it from hand to hand. Finally, he spoke, nearly causing her to drop it. "You've got a bloodline." Shino nodded vigorously. "Yup! I'm originally from the Wastes, back in Halast. The elf you mentioned, where is he from?" "I don't know," said Kressik, "You'd have to ask him yourself. Your bloodline, what is it?" "Efreeti," chatted Shino with a carelessness which made Kei set the mug back down before she broke it, "though I don't know which of my ancestors it was. We're nomadic, you see, so we have a hard time tracing much of anything too far back." "You..." said kressik, trying, it seemed, to be diplomatic, "You're not very bright are you?" Ah, yes. Thought Kei. Dwarven Diplomacy. "Hey," said Shino, "I'm plenty smart, I'll have you know." He crossed his arms and raised his chin defiantly then, as if as an afterthought, "How do you figure?" "Well, you don't seem to realize or care that your ancestry would make most folks take a dislike to you." "Oh." Said Shino, who thought for a moment and replied, "Well, I don't think I would act any differently. I mean, if I try and be all secretive, people will just get more suspicious, but if I'm myself, they'll learn to understand me, and then there won't be any problem, right?" Kressik clapped the much taller elf on the back. "I'm not sure about that, but I think we'll get along just fine. So, you want t' be a craftsman. What's your trade?" "Well," said Shino, "I was training to be a weaponsmith." "A smith?" he asked. "Well, I think you'll have plenty of business. If you have the skills, that is." Kei was still dubious; although Kressik was sending all the right signals for someone warming up to a new acquaintance, there was something about him which made her uneasy. "Well, I haven't really worked on my own before, Shino said. "I mean, I was an apprentice before, and my mentor said I was good, but he was still there in case I needed him, you know?" "Ah, you'll be good enough." said Kressik, and her mind gradually formed the thought, He wants something. The conversation continued as Shino launched into another explanation of his tribe and its customs while Kei tried to think of some subtle way to assess the exact nature of his desire. No opportunity presented itself, and her impatience pushed her towards the guileless method. "Kressik," she asked, "what do you get out of this? Sponsoring Shino, I mean." There is a saying, 'Subtle as dwarven muscle', which flashed through her mind in the instant between when she asked the question and when he answered. As luck would have it, however, Kressik gave a sheepish grin and said, "You caught me, lass. Y'see, it costs me ten gold to sponsor a new member, but I get a share of the profits they bring into the guild." "You think I'll bring in profits?" Shino exclaimed, touched, at the same time that Kei asked, "How much is a share?" Kressik smiled at Shino, but answered Kei first. "Well, members give one copper out of every gold for wares that they sell themselves to the guild, and of that, the guild as a whole has eight shares, the chairman has one, and the sponsor has one." Kei did a quick mental calculation. "And you expect him to make ten thousand gold to recoup your losses? Forgive me for thinking that there's something you're not telling me." "Hey, there's no need to get all huffy. I was jut about t' tell you that the guild gets most of its money from bein' the middleman." When, to his disappointment, neither Kei nor Shino gave an exclamation of 'oh, it all makes sense now!' he gave a long-suffering sight before explaining, "Alright, so, most craftsmen can make things, right? Right. So, they make things. But most of them aren't merchants; they either can't draw the crowds they need t' sell what they make, or else they find, as your friend here might, that they're a bit too soft, a bit too new to the city to turn a good profit. So they go through the guild. "The guild," he continued, "is willing t' buy most everything a craftsman makes, but at little more than the cost t' make it. The craftsmen can live off of this, but it 'aint exactly royal living, which is why most of us keep our own shop. But most of what we make, we sell to the guild. The guild, bein' as large as it is, carts all these wares to where buyers are and sells 'em, making a tidy profit. The profit is split the same way, eight shares to running the guild, one share to the chairman, and one share to me, the sponsor, and since the profits of this sort generally run at about three gold for every one the craftsman makes, all I have to count on is your friend here making forty gold before he calls it quits and I come out ahead." He stood, staring at them and, she thought, expecting censure. But all she said was a dry, "I see." He was out for himself, that much was plain, but this wasn't a zero sum game; his gain didn't mean Shino's loss. Quite the opposite, while it may not be the best arrangement, if Shino still wanted to join, it might be for the best; as Kressik had said, she doubted that he would have the heart or cunning to haggle any but the softest customers up to a fair price. And besides, though the dwarf was obviously acting on selfish motives, she knew what they were, and they did not conflict with her goals. He was a known quantity, and that made him predictable and, for the moment, no-factor. Besides, the thought to herself, if anything changes, I know where he lives. "Well, I'm satisfied. Shino?" The elf blinked. "You're- Uh, I mean, yeah, I'm satisfied." He flashed her a thrilled smile which put butterflies in her stomach. "If I can live off the wages, it's fine by me." "Great!" said Kressik, clapping Shino on the back roughly. "I'll go get the papers you'll be signing. They're pretty basic, just letting us know who you are and where to look for you. I'll be back in just a moment." As the dwarf waddled off, Shino turned to Kei and, shyly, said, "I thought you would keep me from joining." Kei blinked. "Ignoring the implicit assumption that I could have stopped you, why did you think I would?" "'Cause he's greedy." Shino said simply. Kei shrugged and said easily. "Everyone has their sin. Now I know his, and in this case, it doesn't hurt us." A smile crept on to her face. "Though, if you ever suspect him of cheating you, I trust you'll let me know." "Oh, I'm just glad to have a job." said Shino with a grin so infectious that Kei couldn't help but to return it. They were still smiling like idiots when the dwarf's heavy footsteps heralded his return. Schooling her features into neutrality, she leaned against a shelf lazily and feigned disinterest while Kressik went over the forms with Shino. They left several minutes later after Shino had been given a riddle and instructions. It was a variation on an old riddle about the ship of some great hero which had, bit by bit, been replaced over time. Theseus' Ship Paradox, it was called, but Kressik had framed it in terms of a family's heirloom rather than an ancient vessel. Kei didn't think too much on it, mainly because she thought she already knew the answer. To boot, Kressik had told Shino to meditate on it, and she got the feeling that the answer didn't matter so much as the reasoning. The instructions, on the other hand, were much more daunting, and revealed a hidden cost to joining; because he had identified himself as a weaponsmith, Shino had been tasked with making his own hammer, and making it out of solid mithril. Mithril, sometimes called Dwarven Steel, was sturdy as its iron-based counterpart but weighed half as much, and was second only to pure adamantium in terms of both strength and skill needed to work it. Fortunately, a hammer was a relatively simple object to make, as unlike a chain, sword, or axe, it needed neither fine parts, perfect balance, nor keen edges. Still, the task was daunting, and he had been given only two days to do it. "I mean, I just don't have that much experience with mithril." Shino said, "I've only worked with it once before, and we thought that'd be the only time we'd ever touch such a valuable metal. It's hard enough to lug around an anvil with your family without breaking your back to afford high-quality metals, you know?" Kei shrugged. "I imagine it's less expensive than you seem to think here, and I doubt they expect a work of art; Kressik is willing to wager his ten gold that you'll make it, so I'm not too concerned." "Yeah, but... Kei, mithril is expensive." He stared at her, as if waiting for her to get something. She stared back. "And?" "Kei, it's..." he struggled a moment for words. "You've sort of been spending a lot of money lately..." He trailed off. Kei smarted. He wasn't intending it as an accusation, that much was made clear by the pained look he wore, but she still felt guilt. "Do-" Her voice quavered, and irritation at even such a small sign of weakness quickly overpowered her guilt. Schooling her voice and features, she tried again. "Do we lack the funds you need?" "Not at all," said Shino quickly, looking momentarily relieved before relapsing into the look of an elephant in a glass shop trying very, very hard not to break anything. "It's just... we're going to have to start being much more frugal, you know?" Kei sighed. That 'we' was clearly a 'you' in disguise. "Yes, yes," she said wearily. "And?" "And?" Shino looked confused. "That's it." "That's all?" asked Kei. "What were you so nervous about?" "I didn't want to offend you!" Kei gave a weak smile." It would take more than a gentle censure to offend me." While not entirely true as she would find later, the smile Shino gave made her glad she had tempered her response. "Come on, let's get back to the house." The rest of the walk passed in companionable silence, and what would have otherwise been a pleasant walk instead made her heart race when he captured her hand in his. Neither of them said a word, but the blush on both of their cheeks put in the minds of several observers the not wholly inaccurate idea of new lovers. The simple joy of holding hands was broken when they got to the house. Kei broke contact for the simple prudence of opening the door, and when she turned back Shino was wearing his 'conflicted' face. Sighing, she said, "Yes? What is it?" His response was, as usual, cautious. "Well, I probably should go get that mithril." Kei nodded. He obviously would prefer to stick around, but if he was to make it into the guild (and therefore secure an income for the both of them,) he had better get an early start on the hammer. "Yes, I understand." Her tone betrayed her disappointment, as Shino said, almost pleadingly, "I really would like to stay, but-" "Shino," she said forcefully, "I understand." This, of course, only made the elf more uneasy, and a silence fell between them. She got the feeling that her impatience had only made him feel guilty. Another idea crept into her mind, and a smile began to form on her face. "When do you think you'll be back?" He blinked, caught off-balance by the change in mood. "Um, four, maybe five hours?" Kei nodded, a plan forming in her head. "Alright." She nodded again, this time more to herself than her companion. "very well." She drew herself up to a regal bearing. "Let's get you the money you need and send you on your way." She turned and headed up the stairs, and Shino followed, concerned. He caught up just as she reached the kitchen where she'd been storing the money; she still kept two backpacks stocked with enough supplies and currency for a flight from the city more for the feeling of safety than anything. "Kei, I really am sorry about this," said the elf. She turned and put one hand on his cheek, giving him an enigmatic smile. "I know." She spun back to the packs, removing the sack with the remainder of their funds and handed it to him. "Get a good price." She hustled him out, leaving him confused but able, at least, to do what he had to. After she closed the door, she leaned against it and gave a contented sigh. She stared into space for several moments, a soft smile of anticipation on her face. She went back to the bathroom and retrieved the package therein. She had bought a number of things earlier, and though she did use razor, oil, and the black clothes, there was one item as yet unused. Kei changed into this last item, and marveled at how different it felt; she had spent the past few months almost exclusively in some sort of work clothes, and she was momentarily glad that she had several hours to get used to moving in something so different. She occupied herself for the next two hours putting the groceries away, drawing water from the well, washing her work and night clothes, and generally making preparations for tomorrow. The third hour was spent for a much more immediate type of preparation; more water was drawn from the well and heated, and she considered trying to make some sort of feast, but quickly abandoned the idea in favor of a stew; having cooked only for herself and drunken Raul for several years, her culinary skills were in stretching little food into as many meals as possible, not making delectable and complicated foods. Time passed. Shino did not show up in for hours, nor in five. By the sixth, the sun had set and Kei was getting worried, and on the seventh she had run out of both calm and patience; she was pulling off her boots in preparation to re-don her black clothes when the knock came. Her first thought was that Shino had finally arrived, and it was with relief that she ran down the stairs barefoot and threw wide the door. Shino was there. So was someone else. Kei wished for a moment that she had kept a knife somewhere other than in her boot which was now a floor up and a room away. Her initial fight-or-flight response was belayed somewhat by Shino's voice, "Hey, Kei." The man was wearing armor, just some chain mail, but that was enough to mark him as one who expected to see combat. He was enormously tall, perhaps six foot four, and yet the light burden of the elf leaning on him for support seemed enough to hinder movement. Despite his size, it seemed he was not physically strong. His skin was a dark, dark brown, marking his as a native Miasian, and his smooth features seemed to exude a kindness at odds with his military-style close-cut hair. After ascertaining that the larger man was unarmed, her attention was drawn to Shino. The elf looked much the worse for wear, with a dark stain on the front of his shirt, centered around small series of tears. Dirt was in his hair and smudged his face, and he seemed to be standing only with the aid of the Miasian man. "Oh gods, are you alright?" Stepping forward, she put Shino's arm around her shoulder and took his weight. "Ow," he replied, more at her rough assistance than to answer her question. "Careful," advised the large man in a deep, rumbling bass. "I couldn't heal him all the way, so he's still pretty fragile." Daughter of Treason Ch. 04 "Couldn't or wouldn't?" The words left her mouth before she thought, and she regretted them almost immediately. "Couldn't," said the man, his frown conveying hurt and, she sensed, guilt. He really tried, she realized. "I'm sorry, that was unjust of me." she said and, more gently, helped Shino inside. When the man just stood outside, neither entering uninvited (giving her an excuse to kick him out) nor making things easy for her by leaving on his own, she invited him in with a sigh. She practically carried the elf up to the bedroom and began a more thorough inspection. There was a stab wound in his gut, but sure enough the skin was a tender pink, too wide to be naturally occurring, supporting the man's claim of magical healing. He had a bump on his head, painful to be sure but not important enough for the magic energies which sought first to keep subjects alive, and only second to keep them comfortable. This is also likely why Shino's belly was tender; blood loss had been stopped, but muscle had not yet been entirely knitted. The revelation that he had been close enough to death that muscle was de-prioritized shocked her into addressing the human for the first time with two appalled words: "What happened?" "Your friend," he rumbled with a wry smile, "seemed to think he was some sort of fairytale hero." "Nuh-uh," mumbled Shino; his eyelids were drooping, and he seemed completely exhausted. "Yuh-huh," countered the human with a smile before his face turned serious. "Miss, may I have a word?" She bit back a belligerent and only half thought out response in favor of a more neutral nod. She glanced at Shino who gave her a sleepy wave. Taking it as acquiescence, she followed the human into the hall. He waited until she half-closed the door to speak. His words were slow and quiet, lending weight to what he said. "Your friend took quite a bit of damage. He stumbled into a... conflict, between some Rats and Craftsmen. He intervened. Explosively. But as impressive as fire bursts are, wizards don't do so well in a melee. He started shouting in some weird language, and made a decent account of himself before one of the rats blindsided him; he was stabbed twice in the gut and was bleeding out when I found him." Kei covered her mouth with her hand, but the man went on. "I gave him a cure minor wounds spell, just to get him stable." Now he looked apologetic. "I had several fighters to save, and couldn't spare more. It wasn't until one of my clansmen arrived with a few more cure spells that he regained consciousness and I learned that he wasn't one of ours! There were other folks he had to heal, so I couldn't get him much better than conscious, but he had mentioned that someone was waiting for him, so I decided to bring him home." He paused, noting the clean but bare decor. "This is home, right?" "Yes," Kei nodded. "Shino- the elf- he'll... What should I expect from his recovery?" "Oh, full recovery." He said, before amending, "in time. It might take a week or two, if he doesn't get any more healing, but he should be fine regardless." She breathed a sigh of relief. They were rare, but some injuries simply could not be healed, and more frequent was when aid had been given, but too little and too late. But Shino did not, if this man was to be believed, have one of those. Half relaxing, she gave a heartfelt, "Thank you." "Any time." Replied the man with a smile. He hesitated, then gently commented, "Your friend, he, uh, he has quite an unusual appearance, doesn't he?" Kei froze. This was dangerous ground, and though she tried to give a neutral response, her fierce protectiveness bled through in an icy tone. "He is very unusual and very special person." "Yes, ah..." The man trailed off. "Would you like me to come back tomorrow and check on him?" "Yes," she said, grateful that he let the subject drop, "that would be excellent." "Sure thing. I'm not sure how many healing spells I'll have left, but I'll try to save a couple, just to get him back on his feet." "Any help you can give would be appreciated," assured Kei as she began subtly herding him down towards the exit. It wasn't so much that she wanted him out, but rather was more that she wanted to be with Shino without worrying about an unknown entity lurking behind her. The man began giving her a brief but thorough set of instructions on how to care for the elf; keep him off his feet when possible, no rigorous exercise, drink lots of fluids, et cetera. It was all quite basic and, he assured her, not entirely critical; it would help him heal faster, but with modern magic, any complications as a result of poor care could likely be healed with a liberal application of heal spells. Kei took all this in, but when he paused at the doorway, she tensed. But, rather than launching some sort of last-minute attack as a part of her had feared, he simply extended his hand. "I don't think I properly introduced myself. I'm Gerome." Cautiously, she extended her own hand, which he grasped firmly and shook. "You may call me Kei." "Nice to meet you, Kei," he rumbled, seeming unperturbed by her tentativeness, "and I trust you'll treat your man right; there's not many who would stick their necks out to help folks they don't even know. He seems like a good guy, and I think if that sort of behavior were more common, the world would be better off." "Yes," she said dryly, "quite." He stood there for a few moments, unsure if the arched response was directed against him or his patient, but ultimately shrugged it off. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow." She nodded, bade him farewell, and closed the door. Bolting it firmly, she did a quick circuit of the house and ensured that all other entrances were shut. She didn't get a bad feeling from that man in particular; in fact, aside from his intimidating stature and attire, he seemed harmless. But with Shino wounded, she felt more tense in general. It wasn't that she expected the world to suddenly leap and attack the moment he was incapacitated; far from it, she knew that if anything, Shino had made a few more allies than enemies with his stupid intervention. And that, really, was the heart of the problem; he had intervened physically. Shino was not a fighter, and she had assumed that he would keep his head down and hood up. But it seems she had been mistaken. She finished her patrol and ended up leaning in the doorway to the bedroom. "What" she asked the unconscious elf, "am I going to do with you?" Shaking her head, she approached and reexamined his wounds. They were all consistent with what Gerome had said; stab wounds to the gut, a few grazes on the arms and shoulders which were scabbed but not healed, and all the grime that comes with lying in the street for a while. Well, I suppose the first thing to do is give him a bath. She wasn't a healer, but she knew that dirt wouldn't help him recover any more quickly and, of course, she'd rather avoid dirtying their new bed. She gently took one of his arms and got ready to hoist him over her shoulder, but as she repositioned him, he gave a quiet groan. "Shino? Shino, are you awake?" "Mmm." While hardly clear, a response was all the answer she needed. "I'm going to carry you to the bathroom, alright?" "Wha? Why? I c'n walk." He mumbled groggily. "The cleric told you to stay off your feet," insisted Kei, but Shino didn't seem to be listening; he swung his legs off the bed, tried to stand, and nearly fell before Kei grabbed his shoulder and helped support him. "I told you," she said sternly, "I should carry you." "T's fine." He mumbled and started shuffling forward. As they went, she found herself carrying more and more of his weight, and by the time they reached the tub she was doing almost all the work. "Now," she said, easing him down into the chair beside it, "to get you undressed." Shino smiled dreamily, then seemed to realize the implications. "No," he mumbled quickly, "it's okay, I c'n do it m'self." "No," said Kei sternly, "you can't. Now hold still." He complied, and Kei was faced with the difficult proposition of performing a very pleasurable task dispassionately. At first, it was something she didn't even have to think about; concern for her companion's welfare kept her libido in check. But as more and more skin was exposed, she became very conscious of the feel of him underneath her hands, the way he quivered when her touch strayed or lingered, they way his breathing became shallow and his pulse rapid with trepidation and anticipation- Shaking herself, she silently scolded herself. He was injured, and here she was enjoying the feel of his body while he was exhausted and, perhaps, in pain. The breath could be from nerves, not necessarily anticipation, and he was very, very still. This was unusual in and of itself, and even if that was just exhaustion, it wouldn't make a difference, and besides, what if- "That's a pretty dress." Shino said. Kei blinked. That's a good sign, she thought, then immediately felt guilty. It didn't change that he was injured, but she still felt a rush of blood to her cheeks. "Thank you." As she continued pulling off his boots, she was torn between cursing herself for now following up that compliment and being proud because she had resisted temptation. By the time she got to his trousers, her thoughts dwelt more on the former. She took a deep breath and, through sheer force of will, kept herself looking forward, her gaze not lingering on anything in particular as she gave his trousers a tug. There was a catch. The pants snagged briefly around the upper thigh, and as she slid them off completely, she saw in her periphery exactly why; the bulge in his underwear wasn't precisely subtle. Shino, squirming, made one final attempt to convince her to let him undress himself, but she ignored him and, breathing heavily without even knowing it, grabbed his underwear and pulled it down firmly. It caught on his manhood for only a moment before sliding off, leaving Kei on her knees staring right at it. Forgetting herself for a moment, she leaned forward and licked the tip. Shino's groan was of pleasure this time, and she looked up, feeling uncertain and vulnerable, but rather than censure or repulsion, his eyes were closed and he gave a shiver of pleasure. "That was nice." It was a small comment, but it was enough to let Kei lean in and take another lick, eliciting the same response from the elf. She took another lick, then another, each time drawing her tongue across the smooth surface longer and longer, each time pausing to observe his response, and each time receiving a groan or even a sharp and irregular intake of breath in encouragement. It wasn't long before she scooted in and took the head into her mouth. Her eyes never left his face; she had ample time to study it their first night in beacon, and she was relieved to find that it, at least, was relatively unchanged. His face, however, showed a delightful range of emotion: anticipation as he felt her breath on his shaft, pleasure as she sucked it in, massaging the underside with her tongue, and disappointment when she leaned back, braking contact. Well, she thought with a grin, if he likes that, let's see what he thinks of this. She leaned in again, took the tip into her mouth, and kept on going. He groaned as his shaft slid into her hot, wet mouth, and before long he felt the tip bump against the back of her throat. He didn't know what he was expecting next, but when he felt something flutter around his cock and draw him farther in, he was certainly surprised. His eyes snapped open, and he looked down to see an image he would later try very hard to lock into his memory. Kei was swallowing his cock, her deep brown and almond-shaped eyes looking right into his, with just the barest crinkle at the edges betraying a half-smile. Even from this angle, he could see her dress, and wondered vaguely where she had gotten it. It wasn't particularly complex, but it had a simple elegance to it which only enhanced the true focus: her. It was light gray, almost white, and only emphasized her already exquisite frame; though the neckline was less than revealing, it hugged her curves, following the swell of her breasts, narrowing at her waist and flaring out with just a few folds of the cloth to accentuate her figure. It wasn't showy, but it seemed to fit her; reserved but beautiful. Well, mostly reserved. At his wide-eyed look of surprise, her eyes showed that her half-smile had developed into a full-blown grin, and she swallowed again, and again. He groaned as he felt himself slide farther and farther into her until her nose nestled against his groin. Then, with only the briefest of pauses to let him relish the tightness, she drew back. Kei really had no idea how this felt for Shino, but his breath caught so often she was surprised he didn't pass out. Whatever she was doing, she was sure she was doing it right. The thought put a warm feeling in her belly, pride, affection, and something a good deal less platonic, and she redoubled her efforts. Again she pushed herself onto his cock, swallowing to get it all in, and again she drew back. His groan just added fuel to the fire of her lust, and one of her hands drifted up to her breast, rubbing its way to her nipple. As the little nub, already half-hard, began to stand out completely, she grasped it through the dress with two fingers and gave it a pull. The resulting gasp of pleasure stirred something in Shino. His hands, formerly limp at his sides, rose up and grasped Kei's hair. Though he was still too weak to actually force her head back down his shaft, she was more than willing to follow his blatant encouragement. She wasted no time in diving back in and, when she moved to lean back but he kept pulling her in, stay there. It was a test of lung capacity, and sooner or later she had to breathe. His groan of disappointment when she pulled away and took a few gasps of air turned into a gasp of pleasure when she moaned; while her left hand was kneeing her breast, her right had hiked up her dress and begun rubbing her slit through the underwear. The vibrations no doubt felt amazing to Shino, and when he noticed what she was doing with his hands, he wouldn't have traded his current position for anything. She massaged his cock with her tongue, still moaning, as she pulled her underwear to the side and ran her fingers along her smooth and slippery sex, taking a moment to enjoy how neat it felt before applying more pressure. She began to rub herself in earnest, resuming the bobbing motion on Shino's shaft. "Oh gods, Kei, that feels so good." This was an example of when a small stimulus can trigger a powerful response. Kei plunged two fingers into her dripping cunt, curling them upward and loving every minute of it, while she resumed deep throating Shino. The sensations on his cock were amazing; first, a warm and wet tongue making trails all along his manhood, then the tip enclosed in her hot little mouth, and now the whole shaft wrapped in warm, wet, flesh, the base stimulated by a writhing tongue and the end massaged by the rippling muscles of her throat. It was only a matter of time before the inevitable conclusion, he knew, but he was enjoying every minute leading up to it. For her part, Kei wasn't being left out. Her left hand began mauling her breast, while her right alternated between rubbing her clit furiously and thrusting in and our of her moist slit. As she developed a steady rhythm, deep throating on the thrusts and rubbing when she pulled back to breathe and moan, she felt her own end approaching swiftly. Shino's hands became more insistent, pulling her faster and faster, and though she was barely getting enough breath, she struggled to comply until the hands held her close while he murmured, "Oh gods, oh gods... Kei!" That was enough to send her over the edge. Squeezing her breast as hard as she could, she grabbed her clit and pulled, the sock of pain mixing with the intense pleasure and sending her over the edge into orgasm. She writhed and would likely have let his cock slip out of her mouth had he not, in a burst of passion, held her there firmly. When he heard her cumming, he quickly followed. Forgetting about injuries, noise, everything but the warm mouth on his cock and gorgeous woman it was connected to, he pulled her farther down on his shaft as he spewed his seed down her throat. Each pulse brought with it a gasping breath from him, and another quiver from her. Kei's return to lucidity happened in parts; the first thing she was aware of other than the pleasure was the acute need to draw breath. She pulled back, coughing, and fell flat on her ass. She shivered as an aftershock passed through her, and she realized she still was rubbing herself lazily with her left hand. Postponing the decision of whether or not to stop until after it stopped feeling so nice, she gradually let the rest of the world come back into focus. Both of these things happened much quicker than anticipated; the next thing she observed was Shino muttering, "Ow. Ow. Ow." She blinked rapidly, clearing her head, and saw him, leaning against the tub, looking light-headed, and clutching his chest where the flesh was still tender. Her face flushed. "Oh Shino, I'm so sorry!" "Totally worth it." was his firm response, shortly followed by another, "Ow." "Gods, I shouldn't have done that!" He half-grinned, half-grimaced. "You can do that ANY time. Ow." She barely heard him, being too busy chastising herself. First I molest him while he's unconscious, and now I accost him while he's infirm? A small part of her mind noted dryly that, on the contrary, he had been quite firm indeed, causing her to blush further. What's happening to me? "Come on," she said in an effort to silence her own internal monologue, "Let's get you in the tub." "Yeah. Tub. Laying down. Good idea." Getting him in was the easy part; she just had to lift, and even after the transformation, he was far from heavy. The hard part was figuring out what to say afterward. His comments kept her from worrying that he regretted it. Far from it, they gave her free license to act on her impulses if she so wished. However, knowing that she could brought with it a certain amount of trepidation. After all, just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. But these were all thoughts for later. Having nothing to say, but content to simply be, she began washing Shino, enjoying the feel of his skin beneath her hands, and the contented sighs which periodically escaped each of them. They both had lazy smiles firmly set on their faces as she continued her work, cleaning the grime of the battle off his arms and legs, carefully washing his torso where he had been stabbed, shyly rinsing his soft manhood, massaging his back. The work done, she leaned forward, resting her arms on the back of the tub while he leaned into it, their heads side by side. However, as time passed, she began reflecting on what Gerome said. Finally, deciding to get her companion's side of the story, she asked quietly, "Shino, what happened?" From the way he froze, she knew that he knew exactly what she was talking about. After a few moments, he hugged his knees to his chest. She was just about to repeat herself when he started speaking quietly, "I had just bought a couple of ingots, more than enough for the hammer, from this nice old merchant. He even gave me a discount when I explained what I needed it for, a 'preemptive guildmate discount' he said. "Then these guys came in, big burly ones. They started shouting at him, telling him that protection money was overdue, and unless he wanted to be dragged back to the mansion, he'd give them something. The merchant said no, and they started yelling. One of them pulled out a knife." He shifted to look at Kei, eyes wide. "I wanted to help him. You're supposed to protect the innocent, right?" Daughter of Treason Ch. 05 At some point on the way home, Kei had noticed her companion's nakedness. The woman had a lithe, almost athletic build, though the effect was marred by the purple and blue bruises on her otherwise pristine white skin. She was quite tall, perhaps six foot two, and that, combined with her golden hair, made for quite a contrast. Her tall, light and lithe to Kei's short, dark, and curvy. Feeling suddenly conscious of the sight the stranger would make to an observer, Kei removed her cloak and offered it to the poor woman who, for her part, clutched it as if it were the dearest thing in the world. The journey home went slowly; she was doubly cautious, fearing pursuit, and her injuries further limited their progress. The whole way, the blonde said nothing, though Kei had, a few times, caught the tall woman eying her rapier nervously. As this went on, Kei began to see why, at times, others found her own stillness unsettling. Regardless, they reached the house without incident. Kei, still unable to use her dominant hand, fussed with the key for a few seconds before, to her surprise, the door swung open, leaving Shino standing there beaming at her. "Kei! Welcome home!" He paused. "You're white." She blinked. "It's flour. Shouldn't you be resting?" He gave her a guilty grin. "But I feel fine!" "You should go back to bed," she said, sliding inside and beckoning the woman to follow. Shino ignored her advice and instead raised his eyebrows when the blonde, still cloaked, entered. "Brought home a stray?" "Yes," she said absently, more focused on both Shino's and her own injuries than woman she had rescued from an apparently abusive life. "There were a few. I only could get this one to follow. I would have stayed longer to convince the others, but..." feebly, she gestured to her side which by now had clotted. Shino noticed the stain on the dark fabric for, it seemed, the first time. "Oh! Are you alright?" "I'll be fine." She assured him. "You're probably still in worse shape than I am. Though," she added as an afterthought, "if that cleric comes by again, I wouldn't object to some healing." "Yeah, sure. Shouldn't you sit down?" Kei got the distinct impression that he would say that an angel had commanded her to go to bed if it meant she'd actually rest. So adorable. "Do you need a hand?" Kei laughed and unwrapped her head scarf. "No, I'm fine, but I do have something for you." She unslung the pack and let it hit the floor with a metallic thud. Shino stared at it as if he couldn't believe his ears. "Go on," she prompted with a grin. Slowly, hesitantly, like a child with an unexpected gift, he opened the pack and, as he drew out the first bar, his eyes went wide. As he poked through the backpack, he said in awe, "There's so much! Kei, I could make a dozen hammers with all this!" She shifted her weight. Oops. "Uh, perhaps you weren't the first the Rats had stolen from?" Shino laughed, pulling out another few ingots. "I should think not!" The smile of gratitude he gave took her breath away. So handsome. His eyes were as deep and entrancing as ever, and though his clothes hid it, she remembered his musculature, even more well-defined after his transformation. His bronze skin just seemed exotic, and Kei found that she didn't mind his Efreeti background in the least. Indeed, the only thing she worried about was how other people would react to the horns. Other people... She turned quickly and, as she feared, found the blonde cowering in muted terror, staring at the elf like he was some kind of monster. Silently, Kei cursed. "Shino, why don't you head upstairs and go to bed. I'll need a bath first, but I'll be along shortly, okay?" Shino, who had followed her gaze, seemed to understand. "Yeah, sure. Should I help draw the water first?" "No, I'll get the Stray to help me. Go rest." He looked about to offer some other excuse, so she held his hand tenderly, smiled warmly, and repeated, "Go." He ambled up the stairs with only a few backwards glances. Once he was out of the room, the woman relaxed only slightly; she still looked at Kei as if she were some great and dangerous beast. Kei sighed. I suppose that's as good as it's going to get. Well, nothing like work to serve as a distraction from fear. "Come," she said, "Let me give you a change of clothes, then you can help me draw some water." Kei led her to the bathroom and handed over her work clothes. The woman hesitated only a moment before shucking the cloak, donning the canvas garments, and wrapping herself in the black cloak again. Kei didn't mind that she hung on to the outer layer; in truth, Kei's outfit was conspicuously too small in some parts, going down only to mid-shin and so tight around the hips that they were left unbuttoned. As for the shirt, the only place it fit was around the chest; Kei's shirt left enough room for her breasts that, even for the bigger but small-chested woman, there was enough room to breathe. However, her midriff was still exposed, and it barely went past her elbows. To an outside viewer, she would look like a well-dressed beggar or a runaway. Either way, it would draw attention, something which Kei didn't want. Privately, there was another reason she was glad the blonde kept the cloak on; Kei had only seen a few elven women, and fewer still had ever braved a bath house in the fiercely racist Islandport, but she had a clear memory of seeing one proud elven lady who had strode into the bathhouse like a countess into court. Kei had thought her so elegant, so beautiful; her willowy figure was carried with such confidence that all the things which made her different and loathsome in the eyes of the plebeians- her pointed ears, lean frame, smooth, hairless skin- only made her the exotic paradigm of beauty in Kei's impressionable mind. Though the elf had gone, the ideal of beauty remained. It wasn't something she had considered in some time, but this blonde, though human, held that ideal, and the contrast between the two women was not felt by Kei to be favorable. It was silly, as she knew that many men found her attractive enough to assail, it was petty, and it was something she would seldom admit to herself, much less speak of. Therefore the feeling of relief she had when the woman kept the cloak was as indistinct as it was profound. Kei led the other woman out to the well and, as she cranked as quickly as one hand would allow, she noted how the other's eyes stayed downcast, how her posture practically screamed surrender and her muscles were tense, as if expecting attack. All to be expected, reasoned Kei, given the night she's had. The bucket reached the top of the well, and Kei was faced with the difficult proposition of transferring the water to her bucket from the well's with only one hand, and doing so without releasing the crank and letting it plummet back in. "Hey," she asked with a smile, "Give me a hand." Despite waving her wounded arm for emphasis, the joke fell flat, but the woman did move the water, so at least her physical problem was solved. Now she just had to figure out how to get this poor woman to unwind a bit; she seemed like she had already taken more than she could handle, and if more pressure was applied, there was no telling what would happen. They hauled the water back inside, and Kei set about heating it, something she could do more easily with a lame arm. "We'll need another dozen bucketfuls. Bring three to me for heating, and put the rest right in the tub. I'll need to clean my wounds," she lied, fully intending to just soak, but the image of the blonde's skin, covered in blue-green splotches, leapt unbidden to her mind. "But you can go first; it looks like you need it." The look of surprised gratitude the taller woman gave her was unnerving in its intensity. When the woman darted off, Kei wondered if she hadn't scared the blonde away. Of course, the taller woman could hardly be blamed if she had run; her supposed savior had murdered before her eyes, and if the screams and shouts were any indication, had done so several times before, and had a bronze-skinned, horned companion to boot. To most people, such a person would practically be screaming trouble. And yet, despite this, she came back in, bucket of water in hand, and unloaded it before ducking out. She continued performing her appointed task so quickly that she finished before even half of the water was done heating, whereupon she opted to, at Kei's direction, "take a seat anywhere" she liked. She chose the floor, and sat there silently until the water was warm. She never said a word. While the light-haired woman bathed, the dark-haired one took the time to relax and reflect. After strenuous exercise, the human brain releases endorphins which tend to cause a feeling of euphoria, a feeling Kei rode out gladly. She was quite pleased with herself; she had ended several bad men, rescued a woman, made good on the threat she had issued to the rats earlier, and in doing so likely shifted their focus away from Shino and recovered a surplus of valuable adamantium to boot. True, she had been wounded, but it could easily have been worse. Yes, it had been a good day. And Gerome had referred to Shino as 'your man'. The sound of the door opening drew her back to the present. The woman had, it seemed, just finished with her bath. Kei rose. "I'm afraid we don't have any towels; I recommend just letting most of the water run off, then putting on your clothes anyway; the heat will dry everything soon enough." The woman nodded and went back inside. She returned scant minutes later, clothed and soggy. Kei frowned, but said nothing. After all, she could appreciate how uncomfortable it could feel to be naked in a stranger's house; she had felt it herself in her first days changing under Vera's roof. So she merely thanked the woman for her help, told her to make herself at home, and went into the bathroom herself. She shucked her clothes quickly, accidentally chafing her side in the process. She lowered herself into the bathwater, hissing as it came into contact first with her side and then wrist. In time, the pain faded into a dull ache, and as she began to wash, that, too, vanished. The warmth seeped into her muscles, releasing the tension and giving her an opportunity to enjoy herself. Her thoughts wandered, and she reflected on the day. She had ended the lives of eleven presumably evil men, made good on her word pledged in the letter, rescued an unfortunate soul, and even been intimate with Shino. Blood rushed to her cheeks as she remembered it, but as she dwelled on it, she flushed somewhere eels as well. She cast a cautious eye toward the door. It remained firmly closed, and a smile crept onto her face. She was alone, relaxed, naked, and horny; there was no reason for her to restrain herself. As she ran her uninjured right hand over her stomach, making a trail up to her breast, she reflected on how nice it was to have her own house. Shipboard, and even back in Islandport, it had been very difficult to find the time and space to pleasure herself, and even less common to have the inclination when she did have the opportunity. But now, if the mood struck her, she had but to draw a bath to have all the privacy she wanted. Or, she realized with a naughty grin, she could forgo the privacy of the bathroom in favor of the bedroom, just to see how Shino would respond. Her hand reached her breast, and she gave a gasp of pleasure. Yes, that was a pleasant thought. He did, after all, ask to return the favor of her earlier ministrations. She gently massaged her breast, giving a contented sigh. That could be nice. He had not yet touched her more intimately than holding hands, but now it was surely a matter of time. There were many men, she knew, who would take whatever they could steal, and the fact that Shino let her set the pace only endeared him to her more. It was, perhaps, a little frustrating at times, but she had made her intentions clear, and it seemed that he was taking the cue. Her hand squeezed her breast again before sliding down over her abdomen and between her thighs. She caressed it lightly for a few moments before sliding up to her sex. The rough texture of hair beginning to grow in made her frown, but after deciding that shaving with her less than dexterous right hand was a bad idea, made a mental note and continued. Her clit, already engorged, could easily be found. She gave a quiet moan as her fingers slid up her slit and over the nubbin. She spread her legs wider to get better access and repeated the motion, relishing the sensation. She switched to her breasts, giving them several squeezes. She thought of the taste of his manhood, the feel of it in her mouth, the delicious noises he made when she tried something new, and her hand found a nipple and pinched. Jolts of sensation shot through her, down to her clit, and she gave another moan. She closed her eyes and lazily ran her finger over her slit, remembering vividly the look on his face, eyelids hooded with pleasure, mouth slightly agape, the way he- The bathroom door opened. Her breath caught in her chest, and a near-instantaneous list of all weapons in arm's reach appeared in her mind, only to be pushed aside by the single, all-encompassing thought, He's here. For a few moments, that was the only thought in her head. She kept her eyes screwed shut, afraid to meet his gaze or afraid to scare him off, she wasn't sure which. For nearly half a minute, the world seemed to stand still, filled only by the sound of her heartbeat and breath. Finally, wanting something, anything to happen to break the tension, she said, "Well? Are you just going to stand there?" The footfalls as they approached were quiet, cautious. She smiled, imagining the uncertain look on his face as he approached, eager in spirit but afraid of doing something wrong. The footsteps stopped at the edge of the tub, and there was a rustle of clothing. She tensed, expecting delicious contact, but none came. He's watching me? A sly smile crept over her face. Very well. Let's test that reserve of his. Arching her back, she slid her hand languidly up across her stomach, side to her hip, and up along her side. She repeated the motion twice more before finally grabbing a breast and squeezing it gently, rubbing her fingers briefly over the hard nipple. She switched breasts, giving some attention to the other before sliding her hand back downwards. She smiled, anticipating the reaction he would give when she reached her destination, and as she spread her legs, she was not disappointed. The sharp intake of breath widened her grin, and she arrived at her sex, hot and ready. As she rubbed it up and down, she heard another rustle of clothing, and imagined that it was Shino disrobing. A shiver of pleasure ran through her as she visualized him, slowly and methodically from the sound of it, pulling off his tunic, exposing his well-defined arms, shoulders, and chest. She paused for a moment, brushing her clit while she savored the image. She imagined him slowly, almost teasingly, taking off his pants and underthings in one tantalizingly slow motion, exposing his elven-bare pubis, exaggerating the bulge below it until his manhood popped out, tall and proud. She kept her eyes closed for two reasons. The first was that she still didn't want to risk scaring off Shino. The second was that her imagination was doing a good enough job getting her hot, and if it 'aint broke, don't fix it. This second reason was particularly applicable when she felt two gentle hands on her breasts, kneading the flesh firmly. Moaning, she redoubled her efforts on her clit, pinching it briefly before dipping her finger into her sex. The hands on her breasts gently pinched her nipples, and Kei reflexively grabbed one with hers, making it squeeze harder. It was then that she noticed that these hands were different, longer and more lithe, than the hand she remembered holding. She opened her eyes. Behind her was the blonde, naked once more and with both her hands firmly planted on Kei's breasts. Kei jerked away, eyes wide, and pressed herself against the far edge of the tub, drawing her knees up to her chest defensively. The woman, for her part, scrambled away and shrunk into a corner, eyes wide with unspoken fear. They sat that way for several minutes, the woman not speaking out of anxiety and Kei too off-balance to care. Several questions, reprimands, and even a physical assault or two ran through the shorter woman's mind. What the hell was she doing? And why? That was one of the more articulate thoughts which Kei managed, and she decided to try to verbalize it. "What the hell?" Okay, maybe it didn't come out the same way it sounded in her mind, but it'd do. The blonde was silent for just a moment, looking confused. "I was trying to pleasure you, m-" "Yes, I got that," she snapped, "But why? You don't even know me. Voice of the Tyrant, I don't even know your name!" Another confused pause. "I am called Miranda, Mistress." Kei blinked. "What did you call me?" "I called you my Mistress-" "Yes, I got that, thank you very much!" Kei's voice came out more high-pitched than she intended. "Why?" Miranda seemed about to answer but Kei cut her off. "No, scratch that. Why the fuck were you touching me!?" Kei was practically hyperventilating by now, too many old memories dragged up by this- woman was a much more tame word than the one she used in her head- woman, sneaking in and molesting her. Her voice had become a screech and had apparently attracted more attention that just Miranda's. "Kei? Kei? Is everything alright in there?" Shino sounded very concerned, his worry palpable even through the thick- and unlocked! She thought wildly- bathroom door. "Yes!" She didn't know why she said that. Things were not all right; she had thought that Shino was finally making his move, but instead it was the stray, running her hands all over- She let that train of thought drop. The last thing she needed was Shino in here muddying the waters further. He, however, had other plans. "I'm coming in." "No! I'm fine!" The panic in her voice contradicted her words. The door opened, Shino leaned in, glanced around, noted the closed posture of both people in the room, both staring at Shino with wide eyes, and asked, "What happened?" He addressed the question to neither one in particular, and so neither one felt compelled to answer. To his credit, despite the presence of two naked and beautiful females in the room, he kept his gaze at eye level. After a few moments of not breathing, Kei felt an overwhelming urge to escape the situation. "I- I have to go." She stood and, heedless of the water falling off her body, fled to the bedroom. She heard Shino pause only to tell Miranda, "Um, miss? Would you mind waiting downstairs? And, um, getting dressed?" That last part may have been for his own benefit, but it was a relief to Kei as well. Following that, he wasted no time in following her into the bedroom, closing the door, and facing the corner where she had slumped down, knees to her chest once more. He reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, but she flinched away. "Don't touch me!" She winced even as the words left her mouth; how to tell him that his touch wasn't necessarily unwelcome, that she just needed a minute? But his expression, rather than merely hurt, also held understanding. "Okay," he said pulling back. "Okay." He nodded, his voice like silk, gentle and patient. She expected him to beat a hasty retreat, but instead he sat on the bed, hands in his lap, and waited. Over the course of a few minutes, her breathing rate came back to normal as her thoughts settled into a more rational pattern. Noting the slight relief of tension in her body, he asked, "Can you tell me what happened?" Daughter of Treason Ch. 05 "No." It was a reflexive answer, spite born of insecurity, and she regretted it immediately. Beginning before Shino could either take offense or, worse, ask why, she said, "She touched me." When she did not elaborate further, he prompted, "And?" "And nothing. She just came up and started groping me." "You didn't tell her to stop when you saw her reaching for you?" "I..." She trailed off, but his inquiring stare compelled her to explain, "I was bathing. My eyes were closed while I enjoyed the sensation, and I heard someone walk in the door. I, uh, thought it was you, and didn't want to frighten you away, so I kept my eyes closed. She approached, and started massaging me." Shino seemed too focused on the story to catch the tells of her half-truths. Still, the truth has a way of coming out. "And that's when she groped you, and you started screaming?" "I didn't scream! And... um, not quite. That is when she groped me, but I still thought it was you, so..." She trailed off, and Shino stared at her. "What," he asked, a smile forming on his face, "so I can grope you?" She shot him a look, and he quickly put his hands in the air and amended, "I mean, not, like, right now, but in a more general sense, um..." The look didn't change, and he frantically backpedaled. "So, uh, you screamed. What happened next?" Kei groaned. "You still haven't figured this out yet?" He looked like a man standing on a loose log, afraid to move lest he lose his already tenuous footing. "Uh... that's when I knocked on the door?" "Shino, I told you before that I wanted you to look at me, yes?" "Uh," he replied, even more unsure now that she refused to let the subject drop, "yeah..." "And what, in your mind, does that say about what I want you to do?" "Ehm, look at you?" "Generalize," she said dryly. "I, um..." He looked down. "I had hoped it meant you, you know, wanted... me." She stared at him, eyes wide. "Yes!" He looked surprised. "You do?" "Yes!" She leaned back, groaning while her legs slid down to sprawl out in front of her. "Ye gods, you are perhaps the thickest boy I've ever met!" "Oh." He blinked. "Oh. I... uh... wow." "And are you going to do anything about it?" She challenged. "Yes, but, uh, shouldn't we deal with the matter at hand first?" At her uncomprehending look, he elaborated, "The stray." "Oh." She sighed. She had liked their tangent, but he was right; though she had gathered her wits somewhat, she was still shaken by Miranda's actions. "Yes, I suppose we should." "Right! Well, we know that she touched you, and you didn't like that. Do we know why she touched you?" "She said she was trying to 'pleasure' me." She drew her knees back up to her chest, wincing as her wounded arm sent a jolt of pain up through her shoulder at the movement. Shino misinterpreted the wince as disapproval, prompting him to try, unsuccessfully, to temper his response. "Uh, wow. I, uh, didn't know she, uh, swung that way." His face, flushed chin to brow, combined with eyes wide as saucers, let Kei translate this with some certainty into the simple statement he had been thinking: 'Hot.' "I'm not certain she does," she said, trying to put an end to that train of thought before it gathered too much momentum. "Huh? Then why would she...?" He trailed off, looking at Kei expectantly. This time her pained expression was borne of reluctance to speak. "She called me 'mistress'." His expression held the expected half-smile of one who is unsure of what they feel, but whose knee-jerk reaction is to be pleased. "Huh." He blinked. "Where did you say you found her, again?" "The Rat Gang's mansion. She seemed to be one of their harem-girls." She frowned at the thought. "And now she's one of yours." Kei's head snapped up. "What?" "Well, you just took her from there, right?" "Yes, and set her free!" Her face was flushed with anger, and voice was rising with indignation. Who did Shino think she was, one of those damn slavers, or- "Does she know that?" "Of course she does! I mean, how could anyone think I was just looking for a slave after what I..." She trailed off, reflecting on her actions. Barging in, killing the boss, stealing his treasure and then hitting a girl to get her to follow did not, perhaps, strike others as noble or selfless, even if it was just. Shino read her expression accurately this time. "I think we should go have some words with her." Kei nodded, standing. The notion that someone, anyone, might think that she would do such things for personal gain lit a fire under her. She began striding purposefully to the door, thinking dark thoughts, when Shino coughed. "Um, Kei? Maybe you should get dressed first? I mean, not that I mind the view, I just figure you'd rather face her wearing more than a glower, eh?" Blushing, Kei nodded. Her work clothes had been given to Miranda, and her night clothes were, by now, marred with blood and in need of a good wash. For lack of a better option, she put on her only dress. For his part, Shino didn't seem to have any objections, quite to the contrary, if his grin was any indicator. She shot him an enquiring glance, but all he said was, "That's a very nice dress." Her more proper attire lending her confidence, she proceeded downstairs with Shino in tow to face Miranda. It wasn't a task she relished, but now that she had calmed down, she wanted to set things straight more than she wanted blood. Miranda, it seemed, had claimed a small, barren corner behind the forge. Though she was wearing a cloak, my cloak thought Kei testily, the rest of the work clothes sat, neatly folded, on the chair Shino had moved downstairs to rest on while he waited. Kei frowned, but didn't comment further as Shino cleared the clothes and lead her to the seat. He made to stand, and noticing that she was about to object, said only, "You've been on your feet all night while I've been sitting; I'll be fine." She gave him a grateful nod; much as she might like to see him seated, the night was catching up to her, and if the effort of combat and darting from shadow to shadow in back alleys wasn't already arduous enough, dawn was breaking, meaning that Kei had been awake now for almost 24 hours, only contributing to her sense of weariness. No time for rest, yet. She thought, turning all her attention to Miranda. "Well." The word hung in the air as she tried to come up with some suitably stern reprimand, but Miranda took initiative. She sat, knees tucked under her, and bent foreword at the waist, bowing deeply in the Miasian style. "I'm sorry, Mistress. I... don't know the ways of a woman, and did not mean to displease you-" "Stop that." Having Shino at her side was helping Kei enormously in keeping her composure, if only because she didn't want to lose it in front of him. Again, she took a steadying breath. "You seem to be laboring under some... misconceptions. When I infiltrated the mansion you were being held at, I did not come for you. Nor," she said, ignoring the way Miranda's posture drooped, "do I intend to keep you here." Kei tried to ignore the pang of guilt at Miranda's distressed expression. The taller woman stayed in her submissive posture while confusion and remorse flashed across her face. Finally, she spoke, but her words were not the ones Kei wanted to hear. "Have I displeased you so much, Mistress, that you will sell me?" Kei gave a growl of frustration which could be easily mistaken for menace. "No. I'm going to set you free." A pause. "I don't understand, Mistress." "Oh come on. Think back to when you were a child! What do you remember of that!?" Though intended as a rhetorical statement, Miranda took it as an imperative query and, after several moments of thought, responded accordingly. "I had," she said slowly, "different duties. I cleaned, and I learned to cook, and the masters would take me less often because they said I was not yet a woman. I-" She cut herself off when she noticed her mistress' expression. Kei, who had just been trying to make a point, felt sick. "Who were these men?" she asked quietly. "The guards, Mistress." It was a simple answer, and one Kei carefully committed to memory and aggressive follow-up. "Yes, well, you won't have to deal with them anymore. You're free." The taller woman's face was blank. "You have no master any more, do you understand?" "Yes, Mistress." She answered amiably. "No, damnit! I am not your mistress!" Another pause. "But if you are not my Mistress, and I have no Master... who is my owner?" "Nobody! You own yourself!" A long pause, then, "I don't understand." Shino put a restraining hand on Kei's shoulder, half to get her attention, and half to keep her from throttling the poor blonde out of sheer frustration. "Kei," he said, motioning over to the far side of the room. She stood gingerly and followed him to the corner which, if not out of earshot, at least afforded the illusion of privacy. Shino spoke delicately, "Maybe we need to rethink our approach." "There's nothing to rethink. She's free." "Kei, she doesn't get it. You're not free unless you realize it, right?" "Hmph. We could just throw her out, that'd get the message through." Shino was staring at her. "What?" "Do you really think she'd survive out there, on her own?" "She'll adapt." "She's lived her whole life as a slave," he said firmly, "and what's that saying about old dogs and new tricks?" "She's not a dog!" snapped Kei. He was taken aback for a moment before pressing on. "That's true. But look at her." Kei did, and the blonde remained unmoving from the bowed stance. "Maybe she will adapt, but only if she's protected. I mean, it wouldn't take much, I think, just a stranger speaking sternly to her to make her revert back to... this." He gestured to her again. "And what kind of person, do you think, would speak strongly to her" "What," asked Kei wearily, "do you propose?" "Well," he said, looking uncomfortable, "we can't send her packing, like I said, and if we deny her a master, then she still might latch on to some bad stranger..." Kei blinked. "You want to keep her?" Shino caught the undertone of jealousy before Kei herself did. "No," he said, putting an end to that notion, "I want you to keep her." A pause. "You're mad." Shino shrugged. "I don't see any alternative." "I don't see any options at all! You want me to keep a slave!" "De facto, not de jura. Don't think of it as owning, think of it as stewardship; you keep her only until she can keep herself." "It doesn't matter how I think of it, it's wrong!" "Oh come on! What about killing?" Kei bristled. "That's different." "Oh yeah? What's so different about it?" I like it. That thought caught Kei so completely off guard that it took her a moment to even recognize it as her own, and by the time she had pushed it out of her mind, Shino had continued, "It's the purpose, right? By killing some bad men, you prevent more killing." "Yes," she said shakily, "the purpose." She had spoken more to try to regain her balance than anything, but Shino's rhetoric had already built momentum. "This is the same thing, just on a smaller scale. Slavery generally causes more pain than freedom, but in this case freeing her would hurt her more than keeping her, right?" "It doesn't matter," she insisted, mustering her senses, "It's wrong by its very nature. It doesn't matter to what end a wrong is done, it's still wrong." "Then how do you justify killing?" His tone had changed from that of a persuasive debater to simple curiosity. Had she been calmer, she might have smiled at the way he assumed she already had it all worked out, but for the moment she was too busy trying to generate a response to even notice the change in tone. "It's different," she asserted again. "I kill bad men. Removing evil from the world is a good thing. Keeping a slave is wrong, no matter who it is." "Isn't that inconsistent, though? I mean, adultery isn't made okay just because it was with a good person, it's just always bad. What makes killing different, in that it cares who is being-" "Alright, fine, I'll keep her!" Kei was getting very uncomfortable with this conversation, and so chose to end it. For his part, Shino was surprised and, though Kei didn't notice it, disappointed at her surrender. But she neither gave her herself time to think about it too much nor Shino a chance to continue the argument, instead turning and striding purposefully back to the chair. Or at least she would have, but in her haste, she had forgotten not to swing her arms normally and paid the price when her wound sent another jolt of pain up her arm. She grabbed it with a hiss. Shino rushed up to offer her a hand, but she shrugged it off and sat heavily in the chair. "Well, you lucked out." She said, deliberately denying Shino a chance to speak. "You may stay." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, working up the courage to say the last bit. She heard Shino shift, perhaps to make sure she was alright, and opened her eyes, staring right at Miranda. "I am your mistress." Kei was too worked up to stay seated much longer, and beat a retreat back to the second story, leaving Shino with instructions to settle Miranda in. While Shino did his best to comply, Kei did her best to calm down. She tried centering herself but found that every time she tried to process the argument, her mind shied away. Ultimately, she sought refuge in the repetitive motion of weapon drills; although she was limited to slow and simple moves with her right arm by the wound on her left wrist and side, she would be well served, she reflected drily, to improve her skill with her off hand. Shino found her like that, rapier bare and extended in a pantomime of a lunge, a focused expression on her face. "Hey." His greeting was cautious, and utterly ignored as Kei waited to finish the round of exercises before she responded with a nod. Her expression unreadable, he hazarded, "Are you alright?" She simply didn't feel like talking, so she merely nodded. Shino, unaware of this, stammered, "I'm sorry about that. I didn't realize how strongly you felt. If you want, I can ask around, find out if there's someone else who will take care of her somewhere-" "It's fine." She sheathed the rapier with an audible clack and leaned it against the side of the bed. Her adrenaline gone with her agitation, dispelled by the drills, her fatigue returned in force. "Come," she told him, ending the conversation, "Let us retire." He blinked. "Uh, okay." The confused look was replaced by a blush and, after her irritated glance, an aborted attempt to look away as she stripped off her dress. "Oh, uh..." "Join me, if you like," said Kei as she shucked her undergarments and slipped into bed. "But I'm tired, and am going to sleep." "Oh, um, okay." He stalled, shifting uncomfortably under Kei's gaze until she rolled her eyes and rolled away from him on to her side. Eventually, she heard the rustle of cloth as Shino joined her. Hesitantly, he inched up behind her and wrapped an arm around her. She gave a contented sigh and snuggled up against him. She felt his manhood pressing up against her, but was too tired to care one way or the other, and drifted off to sleep. <<<<>>> > She awoke with much more consideration of her surroundings. Some time during the night, Shino's hand had migrated upwards to gently cup her breast, and though in sleep he had lost his hardness, the memory of the feel of it was enough to make her smile. Light streamed in through the windows, the rays beating gently down on her head bathing the room in a soft golden glow. The bed felt sublime, and the heat of the elf behind her helped to fight off the chill of the morning. It was not, perhaps, as cold as an Islandportian night, for the sea all around helped regulate the temperature, but the cool air was still enough to encourage her to snuggle back up into her companion. So warm, she thought happily. The sounds which trickled in from the outside held the friendly chaos of a city awake; a man struggling to get his donkey to move, a wagon rattling over the cobblestones, a mother scolding her children. She lay like that, letting the sensations of life wash over her, drifting in and out of consciousness until she became aware that Shino was awake. She might have noted the change in breathing pattern, deeper and more regular. She might have, had she been particularly sensitive, noted a change in pulse, or the slight tension in the muscles which comes with consciousness. Instead, what she noticed was his hardening dick. In her defense, the other signs were subtle, slight changes in normal patterns of life, while this sign was digging uncomfortably into her ass. She squirmed just enough to get it to clear her cheeks and lay nestled in between them in a way which was more comfortable for her and, doubtless, more comfortable for him, too. She rested like that, content, while Shino slowly began movements of his own. It started with the hands, softly squeezing her breasts, and then spread to the waist as he gently trailed his fingers over them. The feather-light touches quickly hardened her nipples, giving his fingers something to roll gently between them. The gasp this elicited broke any illusion of unconsciousness which may have existed. Shino froze, but Kei wasn't going to let this opportunity slip away. She wriggled her ass, rubbing up against his erect dick. He groaned and, needing no more encouragement, roughly grabbed her breasts and thrust, sliding his manhood between her cheeks. She gasped as he pinched her nipples, sending jolts of pleasure through her body. She rolled over, the tinge of pain from her side dulled by the sensations Shino produced in her, and without pausing to giver herself time to think, pressed her mouth against his. The kiss was not elegant. It was not skilled. But passion can make up for much, and when Shino gave a gasp of surprise, she slipped her tongue inside his mouth by accident at first, but then deliberately exploring once his hand shot up to pull her closer. The kiss deepened, and she ran her tongue experimentally over the inside of his teeth. His reaction was to pull her in, something which only increased her excitement. The sounds of heavy breathing and occasional muffled moan filled the air, and her heart pounded in her ears. 'Thump-thump. Thump-thump.' 'Knock-knock.' She groaned and spat some choice invective, though it was muffled by Shino's mouth. He pulled back from the kiss, confused at her sudden rigidity, to say nothing of her tone, and said in a worried voice, "Are you okay?" She hesitated, and briefly entertained the idea of just ignoring it, but had the decision made for her when the knock repeated itself even louder. "Oh." His frown changed in flavor, now showing clearly the disappointment she felt. "I should get that-" "No." Last time this had happened, the moment had been lost. "You stay right there. I'll go check on it, and be back shortly." Keeping him in place alone wouldn't preserve the mood, but perhaps the promise of continuation would delay its passing. Shino nodded. "Alright, but..." She thought he would say 'be careful' or something, seeing as how the last time someone had interrupted them, it had necessitated a scorching ray. But instead he just gave a grin full of promise and humor. "Hurry back, huh?" She smiled and drew him into a kiss which threatened to crumble her will to even answer the knock, but the faceless visitor's insistent- and incessant- rapping brought back her resolve. She rolled out of bed, wincing at the pain in her side. She looked down to find the wound had cracked, threatening to reopen. She also caught a glimpse of, at the foot of the bed, a black-cloaked heap. Great. I'm naked in a room with Miranda. Again. She sighed, keeping a wary eye on the lump to be sure it didn't move, and began pulling on her underwear. At least Shino is here this time. Daughter of Treason Ch. 05 The knocks continued and, by the time she was pulling on her dress, she was out of patience. "Hold your damn horses, I'm coming!" Unfortunately, while this gave the visitor pause, it also woke up Miranda who cringed, looked around in confusion, then at Kei in, apparently, relief. Kei, for her part, was in no mood to deal with any of that 'Yes, Mistress. No, Mistress.' Nonsense, and saw an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. "Miranda, go see who it is." She paused. "If they try to force their way in, scream." The taller woman nodded, clambered up and zoomed downstairs. Kei hadn't even gotten halfway into the dress, thanks to the ginger movements her hurt body necessitated, when the blonde returned, saying quietly, "He says his name is Gerome, Mistress." Kei breathed a sigh of relief. At least she wasn't going to have to fight anyone half-naked. Or put on boots. "Excellent. Show him in, please." Miranda darted off again, leaving Kei to finish getting dressed. Shino was already reclining on the bed, hands under his head, watching her with a lazy smile on his face. "What?" she asked. His grin widened. "Nothin'. Just enjoying the view." She scoffed, shaking her head, but as she turned away, the corners of her mouth turned up in a grin of her own. She finished dressing and headed downstairs, though not before she paused to grab the rapier belt, just in case. She heard voices on the ground floor and, on impulse, trod lightly as she descended, so as not to disturb it. "...have you been here?" Gerome was rumbling. "My Mistress took me from my old master last night." Came Miranda's demure reply. "Took?" Gerome's voice was uncertain. "Like, as a slave?" "Yes. My old master was not kind, and beat us regularly, but my Mistress has not even hit me yet." A thoughtful pause. "Except once at the beginning, but I did not listen, and so needed to be hit." Kei's stomach lurched, and from his tone, Gerome felt the same. "She... bought you, and then hit you?" "No." responded Miranda airily, and as she continued, a note of pride crept into her voice. "My old master was powerful, but my Mistress is beautiful and strong, and he was no match for-" "That's quite enough of that," interrupted Kei, taking the last few steps at a run, wincing, and clutching her side only after she came into view. Miranda went from proud to submissive in roughly half a second, and Gerome just stared at the dark-haired woman, who in turn was suddenly regretting her decision to clutch the sword belt in her right hand. She ambled over to the chair which Miranda had awkwardly seated herself next to. Does she ever use furniture? Kei found herself wondering, but said nothing. Instead, she seated herself in the chair and leaned the rapier against in an attempt to appear at least marginally less dangerous. What effect might have been lost by discarding the sword was made up for five times over by her presence; her stern countenance, her regal bearing, complete with bowing servant on her right, and, most of all, the unspoken and utterly unchallenged assumption that everyone would do exactly what she wanted all contributed to her general air of 'Don't fuck with me.' Kei, for her part, was unaware of this; she assumed that Gerome was looking at her like an avenging god because of Miranda's slip, rather than her own, if not overtly hostile, at least unfriendly bearing. "Welcome." The utter lack of sincerity was apparent in her tone. Trying again for pleasantries she didn't have to lie through her teeth for, she asked, "What brings you here?" Seeing the tall, dark-skinned man stutter made her smile; here was someone two heads taller than her, decked out in armor to her simple dress, and he was stammering like a schoolboy. "I, uh, I said I would, uh, come back and check on your friend, uh, and, uh, I didn't know you kept slaves." The last part came out in a jumble. "Generally speaking, I don't." She tried reminder herself that he was only here to help, and that both she and Shino could use any healing he could provide, but her words were arched regardless. It probably didn't help matters that he would probably ruin the moment she had been trying to preserve. Pushing the disappointment out of her mind, she pressed on, "You said yesterday that you might have some extra spells left. Is that the case?" "Uh, yes." He seemed off-balance, but not entirely displeased with the change of subject. "I actually managed to save several spells; I wasn't sure how much better or worse he'd be, so I thought I'd swing by here first." She nodded. "We're grateful. Are you prepared to heal him now?" Gerome nodded. "Sure, lead on." Kei brought him upstairs, Miranda staying behind, and entered the bedroom to find Shino gloriously nude on the bed. "You might," she said to him with an amused smile, "want to cover up; we have company." Shino scrambled to get himself under the covers as Gerome stepped into the room. "Hey, boyo. How're you feeling?" "Uh, good." He was blushing and it took some verbal prodding to get him to admit that his belly still was pretty tender. "Let me see." Gerome conducted a quick but thorough examination of the embarrassed elf before announcing, "Impressive. You're mostly healed; it looks like there's just some muscles to knit, which shouldn't take much. Let me just give you a few cure minor spells, and we'll see if we can't get you good to go." The process went quickly, with Gerome casting for a few seconds and leading Shino through a series of stretches, asking what hurt, then repeating. She noted that, when casting, he seemed to simply be uttering a brief prayer to the Wild One in draconic. Is magic so easy? She wondered, and resolved to ask him about it. The ability to heal could be invaluable. It took six of Gerome's Cure Minor Wounds spells to get Shino up to something close to functional, but he had reservations about going farther. "I don't want to use a light spell on him if he doesn't need it when there are folks back at the temple who do." His explanation was apologetic, but firm. "And you cannot cast more minor spells?" Gerome shook his head. "I'm drained for that circle." She nodded. It was a long time ago, but her tutor had once explained to her that magic was divided into ten concentric circles of power, the innermost of which contained the weakest spells like Cure Minor Wounds and Dancing Lights in the center, and more powerful spells in the outer rings. She remembered something about a principle which forbade more powerful spells from being divided into several less powerful ones. Principa non Descendere Potendi, it was called, but the finer details eluded her, so she declined to press the point. Instead, she came at it from a different angle. "Do you have anyone you can call on to finish your work? I'd rather avoid living him half-healed." "I'm fine," interjected Shino. At Kei's disapproving glance, he amended, "I mean, I won't be running any marathons for a few days, but really, I feel fine. But what about you? You can't have healed that quickly." Gerome fixed a concerned gaze on her. "You're hurt?" "It's nothing," she dismissed automatically. It was less that she didn't want healing, and more that she had, in her time in Islandport, developed a justifiable aversion to showing weakness, particularly around men. It was, therefore, a relief when Shino scoffed. "Yeah, right. Now that I'm intimately familiar with stab wounds," the grin he gave was hollow; his joke covered a newfound aversion to the pointy ends of objects, "I know a deep cut when I see it, and the ones I saw last night weren't cat scratches." Her annoyance at being caught in a bluff was drowned out by her relief at getting back to 100% sooner. Her usual discomfort with magic was lessened; while the wizard's spell were all chanting formulae in halting draconic, this kind was clear and earnest in its presentation. A payer for healing could not be easily mistaken for a curse or a domination spell. Of course, this relaxed air lasted until Gerome asked, "May I see the wound?" She blanched. Showing him her arm would be easy enough, just a matter of rolling up her sleeve and removing the crude bandage she had fashioned, but her side was inconveniently placed between her butt and her breasts, and the dress was all one piece. "It'll help me know how much you need," he was saying. "Yes, um," she stalled, trying to think of an excuse, and when none came asked simply, "May I have a minute?" His eyes widened in a way she wasn't sure she liked, but all he said was, "Sure." Gerome left the room and closed the door, and Shino, noticing her discomfort, asked immediately, "What's wrong?" "I, uh, I'm trying to figure out how to show him my side without displaying, ah, more skin than necessary." "Oh." Shino blinked, then his eyes widened. "Oooh. Well, ah, what about the bandages? You could wrap most of your body, but leave your side exposed, right?" She thought he was, perhaps, a bit too happy about this. "How much bandage do you think I have?" "Well, you could only wrap the important bits..." "I might as well stand in my underwear," she groused, but couldn't see any alternative. Ultimately, she opted to sit on the bed, let the top of the dress pool at her waist, and drafted Shino into helping her wrap her chest. She had grown used to doing it herself, but not while one arm didn't want to move and her side refused to let her twist her torso, so she needed and hand. And, admittedly, having Shino in such close contact was hardly a chore. If the occasional grope was any indication, Shino thought the same. "You're feeling grabby today." "Sorry, I can't help it." He announced with a cheery lack of remorse. "I'm feeling perky today." He paused. "Should I stop?" "Mm, soon, but not yet." He continued wrapping, and as the bandage began to run low, he spent more time resting his chin on her shoulder, massaging her breasts. Finally, the bandages were tied, and they had no more excuse to stall further. Reluctantly, she called to Gerome, "I am ready, now." The wrap was, while as good as could be hoped for under the circumstance, less than modest; her belly was exposed, which while necessary for exposing the cut on her side, brought to her mind an image of a belly dancer. This notion was only enhanced by the notable amount of cleavage shown. The wrap was looser than usual as its purpose was to cover, not restrain, and consequently left the tops of her breasts exposed, and if Shino was any indicator, the valley between them demanded a substantial amount of attention. She sighed. There was nothing to be done. And, as Gerome entered, he at least made a concerted effort to keep his gaze at eye-level. The widening of his eyes, motions jerky from excitement, and focused facial expression all made her very, very nervous; this level of attention had been paid to her before, and rarely with good intent. Mercifully, all the warning signs dropped off abruptly when he got to her side. "Oh gods. You've just been carrying this?" All traces of personal interest were gone, replaced by an appalled professionalism. Kei nodded, still shaken from his less-than-detached interest previously. Gerome's response was to shake his head. "I've seen men bedridden by lesser injuries! This one is deep." She winced as he prodded, testing and examining the wound thoroughly before leaning back and saying, "Normally, I'd start you off with a minor spell, just to get an idea of how much you actually need, but..." He shrugged. "The light spells have some variation on them, so you might need another. You ready?" She nodded, then noted with a flash of nerves that he had some unfamiliar hand motions accompanying his prayer. Had she been on guard, she might have flinched away from the unknown, but before she could even finish the thought, he completed the spell and planted on hand firmly on her side, and she felt the energy rush through her. It felt like hot coco on a cold, rainy day, waves of warmth and comfort which swept through her in an instant, stopping at her side and arm. Her eyes glazed over, and though the spell had finished, she tried to recapture the feeling. "Huh." said Gerome, drawing Kei back to reality. "Have you had much healing before?" he asked. She shook her head, mostly to order her thoughts, though as her wits came back to her she adapted it to function as an answer. "No. Why?" "Well, you seem to be moderately resistant to magic. Usually we see it in folks with a naturally hardy constitution, but folks with a rougher lifestyle, warriors and the like..." He trailed off, glancing at the daggers perched atop her black night clothes. "How did you say you got hurt again?" A long pause. "I didn't." It was not, perhaps, the best way to deflect his curiosity, but her knee-jerk reaction was to lie, which wouldn't have been bad but for the fact that the best explanation she could think of was 'cut myself while preparing a roast', which held about as much water as a basket. Therefore, rather than giving an obvious lie, she opted for the more blunt 'mind your own business' method. For his part, Gerome took it well. "Okay... um, as I was saying, folks with more, uh, violent lifestyles who have to receive lots of healing tend to grow resistant to cure spells. I mean, as time goes on, it takes more and more powerful cure spells just to get them back up to running. Which means," he said, glancing meaningfully at the daggers, "it's better to give up such a life sooner rather than later, so you'll be able to get help if you really need it." His preaching was subtle, as far as preaching goes, but she was growing impatient. She drummed her fingers on her thigh. He noticed. "Uh, anyway, one way or another, I'll have to give you another spell. Ready?" Ultimately, it took another light spell to close the wound, and another two before she could comfortably move around. There was still tenderness, but compared to the restrictions the pain had produced, it was total freedom, and even that slight stiffness, Gerome assured her, would be gone in a day or two. Other than that, he marveled again at her apparent resistance to cures, and then started trying to show her the error of her ways again. "You know, there are good ways to make a living, here. Temple acolyteships, artisan apprenticeships, servant positions, and those are just to start." "Hm." She intended the noncommittal noise as a message to stop trying to turn her from a nonexistent path of wickedness, but he instead took it as encouragement. "Yeah, you get paid as you work for the first year or so, then you can open your own shop, all without ever having to face the business end of a knife!" "Hm." This vocalization definitely held an irritated undertone to it, which Shino caught on to. "Hey, uh, I think you might have the wrong idea about what she does-" Gerome interrupted with a wave of his hand. "I'm sure I do, but whatever it is, there's got to be an easier way to make a living-" "I appreciate the help you've given us, but you understand neither what it is that I do, nor my impetus for doing it. I am set in my course, and I sincerely doubt your words will sway me, so let us allow the subject to drop." The silence which followed was palpable. Gerome appeared shocked, and Shino was markedly uncomfortable. Eventually, the dark-skinned man spoke, "I- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." "You did not," she lied, but her tone kept its edge, "but you don't have the facts." "And you won't explain them to me." His deep voice may have seemed more menacing if there hadn't been a touch of petulance in it. "No," she responded, "No, I'm afraid I won't." "Then how am I supposed to believe that you're anything but a thug?" Kei bristled, and Shino managed to choke on some spit and go into a coughing fit. Gerome couldn't help but to see her expression darken, and tried to backpedal, "Uh, maybe I got ahead of myself there-" "Yes, I should say you did! I am obligated to thank you for your assistance, so thank you. Now, if you've nothing left to discuss, I imagine you have better things to do than attack my private actions. Miranda!" Within moments, the blonde was at the door, and for once Kei was pleased with her proximity. "Escort Gerome outside." The taller woman bowed deeply to Kei, then turned to Gerome and began leading him out by the elbow. He paused, as if to say something, but between Kei's glower and Miranda's distinctly disapproving gaze, the atmosphere was so unwelcoming that he merely bowed his head and allowed himself to be towed away. Just outside, he muttered, "I didn't mean to offend-" "You called my Mistress a thug." Even as they descended the stairs, Miranda's response was crystal clear and filled with distain. "I have not been here long, and even I know that she is a lady." Silently, Kei admitted that Miranda was well on her way into the shorter woman's good graces. Suspicious as she might be of flattery, she was not immune, and being assigned the label of 'lady', combined with the apparently steadfast defense of her character against a common foe did not leave her unmoved. When the blonde returned to report that Gerome was gone, Kei favored her with a smile and a heartfelt "Thank you, Miranda. That will be all." As the blonde bowed deeply, all but glowing from even that implicit praise, Shino looked conflicted. When the servant had left, she sighed and said, "Out with it." "Wha-?" "You want to say something, I can tell. You object to my conduct?" "Huh? No. I mean, yeah, it would've been nice to keep him buttered up, but I can understand that he wasn't making it easy for you." She could tell by his tone that, despite this comprehension, he did object, but didn't press the point. "It's more that... Well, before I had forgotten the Craftsman's Challenge, on account of being hurt and broke, but now..." Kei resisted the urge to massage her temples. "Right." "I mean, I suppose I could afford to wait another few minutes-" By his tone and body language, this was an appeasement, and not his first choice. "No," she said with a sigh, "You're already a day behind, and I won't exacerbate the problem. Go start working." The relief showed on his face, and he excused himself to fire the forge with a heartfelt, "Thank you." Kei remained, dress around her waist and bandages around her chest, wondering what to do now. After a few moments, she stood, stretched experimentally a few times, slipped the rest of the dress on, and went downstairs. Shino was busy gathering wood, and she had to all but grab him by the elbow to get his attention. "Oh, hey" he said as if coming out of a daze. "What's up?" "Last night you commented that we had more ademantium than you needed." He blinked, trying to catch up with her direct approach. "Uh... yeah?" "I want some." "Oh." He paused, his brain kicking into gear. "Sure." Another pause. "Why?" "If you have a surplus, I think we might want to sell some of it off; there are a few more things we could use, and having liquid funds never hurts." "Sure, take as much as you want; you got it, after all. Just... uh, leave some for me, will ya?" "She nodded. "Certainly. How much do you need?" "Uh... five ingots?" She raised an eyebrow. "Are you making an ornamental hammer or a maul?" "Heh." He rubbed his head sheepishly. "It never hurts to have extra, you know?" She stared at him. "You're planning something." He frowned. "It's that obvious?" "Yes." His frown deepened, then disappeared with a shrug. "Well, I was hoping to make it a surprise, but I guess the cat's out of the bag n-" "Surprise?" her tone, previously dark from catching the elf in a lie, lightened to mere confusion. "What do you mean?" Daughter of Treason Ch. 06 Kei awoke alone to the sounds of the city. She stretched, and considered going back to sleep, but decided against it. After all, if she continued at this rate, she´d develop a nocturnal sleep schedule, and then she´d hardly be of any use to Shino. She paused. Where was Shino? He had still been busy at the forge when she went to sleep, but the house was quiet now. Had he finished, come to bed, woken up, and headed out? It didn't seem likely, but if he were still working, she would hear him. She tried to shrug it off and ignore it, but the room was uncomfortably warm, making sleep an unappetizing prospect. With a sigh, she rolled out of bed to face the day. Miranda was sleeping on the floor again, still in her dress. She didn't stir, for which Kei was grateful. The shorter woman padded over to where her new clothes lay, still in their bag. She put on a functional set of undergarments, already planning for the day, before pulling on a light brown dress. Miranda, Kei noted, had a peaceful expression on her face as she dozed, wrapped in Kei's cloak again. I really ought to just get another one, she thought, so I don't have to collect mine from her every time I go out. Quietly, she padded out, stopping only to collect her boots and dagger. In the kitchen, she prepared a quick meal of bread and cheese, hardly enough to get her through the day but simple enough not to require much effort to prepare. The bread had been bought fresh, and the cheese was barely days old; she relished the taste, so full and savory after months of dried and stale ship´s rations. She migrated downstairs, intending to see where Shino had gone. She wasn't expecting much, perhaps a note, but was surprised to find his cloak still hung on the wall. She frowned. If that boy went out again uncowled... She ambled over to the forge and was surprised to find it still hot, and her frown deepened. Is he trying to burn the house down? Honestly, I swear he would lose his head if it wasn't fixed to his neck- She stumbled, and looked back. There was Shino, supine and staring blankly at the ceiling. "Shino!" She crouched next to him. "Are you okay?" "So... tired..." "What did you do to yourself?" "Had to finish the Hammer." His arm twitched, and Kei noticed a beautiful, solid ademantine hammer clutched in his grasp. She picked it up, and noticed, shallow and subtle, engravings, all over the sides. Vivid images, staggeringly complex for their medium, showed great battles under a blazing sun. "For this? I mean, it's beautiful, but-" She paused as something came to mind. "Shino, when were you supposed to meet with Kressik?" "Mm, in the mornin." She stared. "It´s almost halfway to noon." "Wha'? I... I hafta get up." He writhed in a meager attempt to rise. "Easy, I'll get you up and to the meeting. Just relax." She pulled his arm around her shoulder. "Do you need anything besides your hammer?" He lolled his head in an attempt to shake it. "Alright, then. Let's meet Kressik, show him that you completed the Craftsman's Challenge, and get you back here to rest." She heaved him up onto his feet, covered him with his cloak, and after making sure he had his hammer, hauled him outside. He tried to hold his own weight at first, but she found that the further they went, the more he leaned on her for support. By the time they arrived at Kressik's shop, she was practically carrying him. Kei entered, then knocked on the door frame twice, heavily to announce her presence. "Yeah, yeah," came the dwarf´s voice from the next room. Shortly, he emerged, wiping his hands on his apron. "What can I do for y- oh! The elf! I started t´ think you wouldn't be comin'!" A pause. "Are you alright, lad?" "He's just tired. I have his hammer right here. Does he need to do anything else, or may we go? Forgive my impatience, but I'd like him to get his rest." "Does he-? Lass, he still has t' stand before th' masters an' answer the Craftsman's Paradox, t' say nothin' of the initiation if he gets in!" She pursed her lips. "Kressik, he can barely walk." "Barely's enough, lass, so long as he can make it to the guild house, he'll do fine." She hesitated. "He completed the challenge. Is there no way to postpone the rest?" "I´m afraid not, lass. Don´t you worry; we take care of our own. He'll be fine." "And what about his heritage? What if someone attacks him?" The dwarf looked up at the human. "One of our best alchemists is half dragon, of the blue variety." "I don't see how that's relevant; a dragon, even an ignoble one is hardly the same as-" "He´ll be fine, lass." Kressik´s placating tone was undermined by exasperation. "Just leave everything to me, an' I'll get your boy back, safe and sound, aye? Now we have t'be going, now; we're late enough as it is, and it'd be a shame if all his work was for naught on account of a wee bit of tardiness." He had begun to inch towards the door, and Shino, eyes half closed, heaved himself from Kei's shoulder and moved to follow. "I'll be alright, Kei." He mumbled. "I'll be back soon." Confronted by Kressik´s not so subtle prodding and Shino's complacence, Kei released the elf with a sigh, but not before leaning down and saying to the dwarf, "If he gets hurt, in any way, between now and when he returns to me, there will be hell to pay. Understand?" He held her gaze evenly. "I'm not sure why I should be afraid of a pretty little thing like you, but aye, for what it's worth, understood. We take care of our own. You'll see, when he gets back." She nodded gravely and turned to the elf. She hesitated just a moment before leaning in and planting a kiss on his cheek. "Good luck." <<<<>>> > She spent the day, or what was left of it, getting some specialty supplies; a flask of strong acid, a couple pints of lamp oil, a few tindertwigs for fast fires and, on impulse, a smokestick to generate a quick cloud of smoke, as well as a few belt pouches to hold it all. The pouches were easy enough to find, as was the oil, but the rest she had to hunt around for. Ultimately, it led her to a hole-in-the-wall apothecary in the Temple District, perched above some acolyte´s quarters and squeezed between a grocer´s and a run-down temple of the Judge. Evidently, he wasn't that popular hereabouts. The thought made her smile, something which the woman behind the counter noticed. "Tindertwigs and smokesticks? What, are you plannin' some great escape or the like?" The words, spoken with a smile in a lilting Northrendian accent, were a bit too close to the truth for comfort. "It never hurts to be prepared." She said, archly. The woman seemed oblivious to Kei´s tone. "Oh, most o´the time, it doesn´t, sure enough, but sometimes you´d be surprised. I once saw a man almost light himself on fire. The nit forgot t´put his combustibles in one pouch and twigs in th´other. Keepin´ that in mind, can I interest you in another pouch?" The woman wasn't lying, but her smile was a bit too wide; she was obviously trying to make a sale. All the same, Kei couldn't help but to ask, "Someone nearly set themselves on fire?" "Oh, sure as the day you were born! Big, burly fella bought some tindertwigs, lamp oil, and a few smokesticks for a play he was the leading man in." Her smile widened. "When he asked me if I wanted t´go see it, of course I told him I did!" Her face grew stern. "It was a good play, ´till the big fight scene. All the thrusting and parrying seems to have ignited the tingertwig. I think he felt the heat, but when the smokestick he had in the same pouch went too, and smoke started pouring out, the ninny thought he was burning alive, started screaming, 'Oh gods, oh gods, my legs, oh gods!' "The audience loved it, mind. Ate it right up. The ending was a bit odd, though, what with the leading man hiding his shame backstage. he´s lucky all his flailing about didn't break the oil flask; he´d have had some real problems then, let me tell you!" Kei wasn't entirely sure how to respond. She had come here for corrosive and flammable fluids, not conversation. And yet she couldn't help but to smile at this bubbly redhead. Something the woman noticed. "Ah, there we go! I knew you had one in you somewhere!" She blinked. "Beg your pardon?" "A smile!" When Kei, still unsure how to proceed, took her time in responding, the woman stuck her hand out. "I´m Jenny." Kei took it tentatively. "Kei." "Pleased t´make your acquaintance!" A pause. "Are y´new in town? I don´t believe I've seen you around." Kei raised an eyebrow. "You know everyone in the city?" Jenny gave an airy laugh. "I do, every last one. Also," she said meaningfully, "I don't get many new customers hereabouts; most find a few shops they trust and stick to them, particularly when there's about two pinches of powder's difference between remedy and poison." "Hah!" The laugh escaped before she could help it. Her guard was beginning to drop and she found that she didn't particularly care. The bubbly redhead had an air of open joviality, one which might make Kei nervous if it hadn't been accompanied by a softness of the eyes, an occasional concerned glance. Some of the great atrocities of the world are committed in the name of 'a little fun', and for Kei, humor was dangerous unless tempered, as she was increasingly convinced it was in Jenny, with concern for one's fellow man. "Oh, you can laugh, too! Normally I'd be offended that you let my pants of fire story slide with nary a chuckle, but I get the feeling that you're one of the quieter ones, so I'll let it slide." Kei smiled. "Is that a bad thing?" "Oh no! I quite enjoy the quieter folks; gives me more time to talk!" Kei snorted, and Jenny gave another laugh. "I am, by the way. New in town." "I figured as much. How are you liking the city so far?" "It's... full of interesting things, some of them good." "Hah! Oh, that's one way of puttin' it, sure enough. The city is full of interesting things, as you say, and she's mighty unforgiving to those who don't know their way, but you tread softly, and show her some fangs when you have to, and she'll treat you well enough. What?" Kei's snort had progressed into outright laughter. After another prompt from Jenny, she managed, "I'm sorry. It's just that it seems that between me and Shino, we're doing something right!" "Oh? Well, I'm glad to hear it! Who's Shino, then? She the loud one, then?" "He, and no," she said, smile still in place, "but he does have a good set of fangs." At Jenny's inquiring glance, she explained, "We were lucky enough to find a bloodline potion." "Oh!" The redhead's eyes lit up. "Oh my, he's a lucky one, indeed! What's his lineage, then?" Kei hesitated. She remained uncomfortable divulging Shino's particular bloodline, but this woman now seemed so fascinated. What's more, she'd been nice enough even before learning of the elf's unusual ancestry; not the profile of a predator, or a threat. Besides, thought Kei, eying the other woman's skinny arms, I could take her. Satisfied that the woman before her wasn't a threat, Kei explained, "Efreeti." "Ooh! One of th' rarer ones, too! Tell me, how strong of a bloodline? I assume an intermediate one because of the fangs, but what other manifestations does he have?" "Um, he actually has a major bloodline." Jenny's eyes widened like plates, and Kei shifted uncomfortably. After a few moments, the questions came jumbled together. "He is? How far back was his ancestor? Does he have any siblings who've also had a potion? Do they have th' same manifestations?" She paused, mainly to take a breath, and seemed to remember herself. "Oh! Where are my manners? Here," she said, raising the counter's divider, giving Kei access to the back of the shop and a small chair therein. "Have a seat. Would you mind terribly if I asked you about bloodlines?" Her tone held both embarrassment and barely restrained excitement; Kei couldn't help but to laugh. "No, not at all, though I'm not sure how much help I'll be." "Oh, you've seen him with your own eyes, that's more 'n I can say." The dark-haired woman's mind went back to the inn, her first night in beacon, and she blushed. Jenny accurately read her expression and grinned. "Oh, I see you've seen a lot of his body with your own eyes, hm? Well don't you fret," she said, sitting up straight and trying, with little success, to adopt a serious expression, "I'll keep it professional." True to her word, the next hour passed quickly and Kei found herself enjoying the redhead's company; her sincere kindness, interest, and appreciation of harmless fun, while unfamiliar to the shorter woman, was pleasant to rediscover. When the hour had passed, and Kei was sent on her way, she was smiling contentedly; even as a child, Kei rarely had a chance to socialize with others of her own age. Though the tutors she had spent so much time with taught her well, Kei had always found them stuffy and boring. After the death of her parents, she found those her own age more lively than she would like; indeed, she spent a considerable portion of her childhood watching out for, and fleeing from, threats. Even on the Maiden of the Salt, though safe, she felt apart from the crew; they had seen her first as an outsider, then an asset. But Jenny, despite her fascination with Shino's bloodline, had treated Kei like an equal, and done so for no other reason than because she was sentient. Combine the novelty of being treated as a person with the fun-loving personality of Jenny, and Kei found herself planning to return to that apothecary as soon as life gave her an excuse. When Kei arrived home, it was late afternoon and Miranda was on her way back in with a bucket of water. She had, it seemed, decided to thoroughly clean the remaining rooms. Kei had been aware of their existence, but had no use for them hitherto, and so hadn't bothered to do much to clean them. After unloading, and with Miranda cleaning and showing no sign of tiring, Kei found herself in an awkward position. Having done everything she could do domestically, and arranged with Thomas, the guard, to meet two nights hence, she had nothing to distract her from the increasing level of worry she felt for Shino. Kressik had assured her that he would look after the elf, but what if he changed his mind, or was incapable of honoring his word? It was thoughts like these which drove her to distraction. At first, she tried to help Miranda with cleaning, but the blond had things well in hand and was so confused, so painfully subservient when she tried to help that it didn't take long for the shorter woman to feel like she was in the way. After spending several minutes standing around, feeling like a cross between a third wheel and an overseer, she gave up. It was at this point that there was a knock on the door. Miranda moved to answer it but Kei, thinking it was Shino, said, "I'll get it" and swept out of the room. After last time, she had the foresight to glance out the window before throwing wide the door, and so Gerome didn't see it when her face fell. She paused a moment to collect herself. Though the tall Miasian had angered her, he could yet prove a valuable ally. He looked anxious, which meant either he knew he had offended her, or he wanted something. Privately, she hoped for the latter; she wanted to make him squirm. To her disappointment, however, it was not meant to be. She opened the door, and for a few moments, Gerome just stared at her, like a deer in the headlights. Impatient, Kei prompted, "Well?" Her unfriendly tone snapped him out of it. "Uh, I came to say I'm sorry." Damn it. "I judged what I didn't understand. I want to understand, I want to believe you're a good person, and when you wouldn't answer my question, I stopped giving you the benefit of the doubt. My..." He trailed off, shame burning his cheeks. "My priest, he says that I did this out of spite." His remorse was genuine, but if he wept, it was not for her soul. It was for his. So when he pinned his arms to his side, bent at the waist in a deep Miasian bow, chainmail clinking, and said, "I apologize; forgive me." she would have none of it. "Oh, get up!" His head snapped up, surprised, hesitant. "You heard me! Get up!" Slowly, the man straightened, and even slumping he towered over. "I.. I don't understand." He looked crestfallen, but Kei had already found a target. "You're ashamed that you let your contempt get in the way of converting me. You're not apologizing, you're doing penance. If you want forgiveness from your god, give to the needy, fight injustice, do something useful, but don't use me as your stage for redemption!" Gerome was taken aback. A few observers, neighbors and passerby observed the exchange. Some were amused at how the tall, armored Miasian man shrunk away from the short Fractorian in the pretty dress. Some, who overheard Kei's words and tone, empathized with the man, and wondered briefly who this woman was, so tiny but so intimidating. Gerome had no time to think. "I- I'm sorry." And there's sincere contrition at last. She sighed and massaged her temples. Figures. I chew him out and now he has his heart in the right place. And he did; he was not being polite, or pious. He regretted that he had offended her, and was trying to make amends. This was no criminal to be cowed into a good life, this was a cleric of the Wild One, already doing his best. What is happening to me? Gerome shifted uncomfortably, and looked about ready to give up. She sighed again. Alright, time to throw him a bone. "I'll tell you what: you teach me basic spellcasting, and I'll consider all grievances forgiven. Your thoughts?" A pause, and Gerome's face softened. "I'd like that." A flash of concern. "But..." She looked in his face, saw reluctance but hesitation to mention it. Taking a wild guess, she asked, "You think I'll use it to do harm?" The look in his eyes was all the confirmation she needed. Rolling her eyes, she said simply, "Unless I can somehow manage to cast fourth order spells, I doubt you have anything to worry about. Inflict spells are noisy, take some time, and aren't terribly effective. I cannot see myself wasting so much effort on something I can do well enough with a dagger. Any other qualms?" His face screamed, 'Yes!' but his mouth said, "No." She paused, giving him a chance to change his mind. He didn't. "Well then, please come in." Cautiously, Gerome entered, the clinking of his chain mail at odds with the jerky, nervous motions. Kei stood off to the side as he looked around. "We'll need a quiet place. You have a basement?" She stiffened. "Will the attic do?" He frowned. "The basement really would be better-" "The attic," she said firmly, "will have fewer distractions." This much was true; she wasn't sure how well she had scrubbed the walls, and the stench surely remained. Despite the technical truth of her statement, Gerome seemed to see it for the cover it was. Mercifully, he declined to press the point. After they were seated, and after Kei gently dismissed Miranda, who was still glaring daggers at Gerome, the tall Miasian said, "The kind of magic I can teach is Divine magic, powers granted only by the grace of the gods. The first and most important thing is to find a deity, or deities, who best match your beliefs, so you may naturally act in accordance with your gods. If you can, pick just one; if you can dedicate yourself to that one alone, you don't even have to think about which god to ask for powers. No matter what you do, if you're acting in your own beliefs, you need but ask. So, I ask you to take a few moments to reflect on which deity, or deities, speak to you on the deepest level. Start simply with basic questions: how do I think the weak should be-" Daughter of Treason Ch. 06 "The Judge." He blinked. She spoke so firmly, he couldn't suppress a laugh. "What?" she asked. "The Judge? You... you're sure." She nodded, with gravity. "It's just, uh..." He tried and failed to keep a straight face. "Isn't he a bit strict for your, uh, mysterious activities?" "It was the Judge," she said, "who gave me the idea in the first place." He blinked. "Huh." A smile began to form on his face. "Huh." A flash of doubt crossed it. "You're not pulling my leg, are you?" She shook her head, but he continued anyway, "Because if you ask a god you don't serve for help, you'll get nothing most of the time, and a good smiting if they're particularly offended." "Noted." She said forcefully. "May we continue?" He hesitated, but nodded. "Alright. First things first. Get into a comfortable position. Then, however feels right to you, let us pray." Kei found the process, at first, to be similar to a meditation one of her tutors had taught her long ago; she sat cross-legged, her hands palm up on her knees, while Gerome spoke calmly in his deep bass, "Focus on your breathing."Feel it enter and leave. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Feel the floor under you. Feel how it bears your weight. Feel the air on your skin. Hear the sounds outside." One by one, he drew her attention to stimuli around her and, one by one, he dismissed them. At the very end, he instructed, "Feel: what is left?" Cold. Unforgiving. Afraid. "Examine it. Feel its nature. Find its edge." The whole thing was an edge, a ragged sliver ready to break- What is that? "Do you feel it?" Nudging the border of your consciousness?" She did. A drop of calm, a foreign thought. "Allow it in, enfold it in your being. Let it spread." Let it spread?! It's already spreading whether I want it to or...! Whether I... Whether... Absently, she felt the sense of calm envelope her. She knew she should panic, but couldn't bring herself to do so. The drop had spread, coloring her thoughts tranquil. She felt it probe here and there, gently pushing a memory to trigger a lazy cascade of images and sensations before moving on. Gerom'es voice rumbled on, but Kei paid it no attention. The foreign drop had almost completely surrounded her when one single lucid thought formed in her mind. It's judging me. She jerked back, recoiling physically and mentally, but in an instant the drop turned hard. It froze her thoughts, and all subtlety was abandoned. While before it had coaxed memories it, this time it ripped. She could not think, she could only experience as her life passed by in a flash. At the very end, as the drop's hold loosened, she felt the foreign thought, 'Yes.' The hold relaxed, and Kei was left gasping in the attic, perspiration beading on her forehead, and her hear racing. Gerome sat across from her, gentle understanding on his face. "I know," he said gently. "I know. It's hard to stand naked before someone, utterly defenseless, and let them look. Standing before the Wild One was hard enough. I cannot imagine standing before the Judge." Her breathing was ragged. She needed something familiar, anything. "Miranda!" The call came out harsher than she intended, and Miranda arrived quickly, stumbling in her haste. Before she had even finished her bow, Kei said, "Water." As the blonde scampered off, Kei growled, "Why didn't you tell me he'd be in my head?" Gerome looked surprised. "You... you're communing with your god! You invited the contact! You didn't know?" She shook her head, still panting. "No. I didn't know I'd be inviting anyone inside, and I sure as hell didn't know he wouldn't leave when I asked him to." The dark-skinned cleric blinked. "You... You pulled away?" She nodded. "Voice of the Tyrant, you never pull away!" "How the hell was I supposed to know?!" "Mistress?" The argument was interrupted by Miranda's tentative voice. "Your water." The pale of water clutched in the blonde's hands was a godsend. Kei took it gratefully, took a deep drink and handed it back with a gasp. "Thank you, Miranda." She looked up into the taller woman's eyes. "Thank you." Miranda beamed as she took the bucket, bowed deeply, and scampered off. Gerome seemed to not have noticed. "Oh gods. I didn't tell you." Kei, who had begun to recover her proverbial footing, observed his mounting guilt with amusement and vindictiveness. "I didn't tell you. It was my responsibility." He looked her in the eyes. "I'm so sorry. Oh gods, I'm so sorry." Now there's the personal accountability I was looking for, she thought wryly. "Maybe we should stop-" "No!" He stared at her. "No," she repeated more calmly, "I need this." He frowned, concern evident on his face. "Are you sure-?" "I can handle it." "If you're sure..." She nodded once, curtly. "Alright. Let's start small, with a simple Light spell. But first, a background on theory." If he had erred on the side of too little information before, he erred on the side of too much now. Fortunately, what she remembered of lessons long ago proved an adequate foundation; the pieces of information, and connections between them, were already in place; all she needed was to be reminded. Her fluency in Draconic also proved to be invaluable; she didn't have to memorize prayers, simply know how to construct them. Before long, she was ready to cast her first spell. "Alright," said Gerome, handing her a small pebble, "Now hold the stone, remember what I've taught you, and repeat after me." "Oh Judge, He who Watches," they intoned in Draconic, "grant this stone light." Nothing happened. Kei stared at it, puzzled, but Gerome looked at her. "I don't understand." she said. "I did everything right." "You opened your mind to Him?" She lowered her gaze, though her face could be read like a book. "Gods," he said dryly, "do not take lip service. Try again." But she couldn't. Try as she might, every time she felt the Judge in her head, the memory of him seizing her mind provoked a reflex of pulling away, shutting him out. "Oh come on!" groaned Gerome after nearly an hour of failed attempts, "What are you afraid of? He's a god; if he wanted to hurt you, you'd be begging for mercy already." "It's my mind!" she hissed. "And it's not like I can control it!" Gerome frowned. "You felt him. You obviously have the capability-" she snorted; he dutifully ignored her. "but apparently, not the wisdom to bow before the inevitable." "Now see here-!" "You are in my garden, now," he said firmly, shooting her a look, "and unlike last time, I'm the one who knows what he's talking about, or else you wouldn't need my help." She harrumphed and crossed her arms, but otherwise reminded silent, determined not to give him the satisfaction of behaving like a petulant schoolchild. "As I was saying," he said, pushing his luck in her mind, "you lack the wisdom or," he added as she opened her mouth again, "perhaps simply the motivation." "I'm trying!" "Of course you are, but it's not a question of effort or even desire, it's a question of what you'd be willing to give to your god for the powers he grants you, how much energy you'd give back in exchange. There is a reason," he said, sagely, "why magic is draining." She gave a discontented grunt, but couldn't contest the point. Mercifully, she was saved from argument by a cheerful voice in the doorway. "Yeah, but even worse is a day and a half of solid labor, let me tell you." Kei's eyes widened. "Shino!" He had entered sometime when she had been distracted, and it seems, had been watching with amusement; the corners of his eyes crinkled up with his smile. She leaped up and threw her arms around him. her enthusiasm hit him hard enough to make him stumble, but the moment he regained his footing, he tentatively wrapped his arms around her. She nuzzled him in encouragement, enjoying the feel of her breasts pressed against his chest. After several seconds, Shino asked, "Are you okay?" Abruptly, she remembered Gerome's presence. Drawing away, she ignored the elf's concerned look and turned to Gerome who had a gentle smile on his face. She cleared her throat, regaining a modicum of balance and dignity, and said, "Well, I think we're done for the day." He raised an eyebrow. "The day?" She nodded. "Yes. If you've no objections, I should like to continue the lessons, in two days preferably." He blinked, the grinned. "You're really determined to learn magic, aren't you?" "You're learning spellcraft?" asked Shino, excited. "No," said Gerome more easily, saving her from the task of letting him down easy, "just basic divine spellcasting." "Oh." He considered this for a moment, then smiled again. "Still, good for you!" "It's not going that well," she muttered, but Gerome's deep voice drowned it out. "Well, I suppose I'll head out, now. See you in two days?" She nodded. "See you in two days." He rose, armor clinking, squeezed by Kei and Shino, and hit his head on the door frame. "Ow, damn it!" "Are you alright?" Shino asked, concerned. "Yeah, fine, just..." He glared up at the door frame, well overhead for Kei and Shino, but about forehead height or the huge Miasian. "Maybe we can use the basement next time? I'd rather not have to waste a cure spell on my face just because your attic has low ceilings." She did a quick mental review of her plans. "You may wish," she said carefully, "to bring a helmet." "Wha...? Oh." He shrugged. "Well, I'll see you later." He began descending the stairs, and Kei had just enough time to wonder if she should warn him about the low beam at the end of the flight before another loud thunk! issued forth from below. "DAMN!" Kei couldn't help it; she laughed. Gerome called up, "I'm fine, thanks for asking!" and proceeded to the exit, mumbling discontentment the whole way. The door closed, but Kei kept laughing. Shino gave her an odd look, and she tried to stop, but failed. All the tension of the day was releasing itself, all the worry, all the frustration, vented in laughter. Eventually, she would down, and looked up into Shino's smiling face. "You okay?" She nodded, still grinning. "How'd it go? You seem to have taken your time." "Yeah," Shino rubbed his head sheepishly at her playful jab. "I was pretty out of it, so they gave me a place to sleep after. I don't even remember most of it, but I got in!" "That's great!" She hesitated, thought screw it, and hugged him again. "You're feeling affectionate today," he mused. "I was worried about you," she murmured into his chest. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you." "Don't worry about it." Seconds passed, each content with the presence of the other. Then Shino, struck by impulse, said, "Hey, you wanna see it?" At her raised eyebrow, he explained, "My hammer! It's really good!" She smiled, more at his enthusiasm than the prospect of seeing a lump of metal, but he seemed so excited. "Sure." He led her down to the first story where the hammer lay on the forge. Although she had glanced at the hammer earlier, Shino now took the time to go over it in detail. What Kei had taken to be a battle was, in fact, a slaughter. The people, who Kei had taken to be human, had pointed ears under their helmets, marking them as elves. About a third of the combatants held a wild look, their eyes' hollowness emphasized by the lack of pupils. The remaining warriors had mixed terror and confusion, some even pleading with their attackers. What Kei had first taken to be a sun was in fact an outline, so subtle that Shino had to point it out to her. The background, disguised to look like midday sky, held, if one looked closely, a great face. Above the nose, eyes crinkled in amusement. "See here? Look at the faces! They have that hollow, golem-like look that accompanies Domination spells. I think the face in the background, the eefreeti, is controlling them, turning friend against friend." The detail was indeed staggering, and worthy of praise, but Kei felt horrified by the negative light and association it put on his heritage. "It's gorgeous, but... why would you make this?" He looked embarrassed. "Uh... To be honest, I have no idea where this came from. I had just planned to do a basic pattern with a few lines, something simple and easy. I don't even know what's going on in the scene!" Kei's frown deepened. "Are you... suggesting that this is not your hammer?" "Oh no! It has my style all over it. It's mine, I just.." He shrugged. "I was tired. Maybe I just was so focused on getting it done I don't remember?" She pursed her lips, unconvinced, but unable to come up with an alternative explanation which didn't sound crazy. Instead, she opted for a distraction. "So, you're a craftsman now? How does it feel?" He grinned. "It feels good. Really good." He gave a happy sigh, which turned into a yawn. "Still kind of tired, though." "Didn't you say you rested?" She raised an eyebrow. "Well, yeah, but that felt more like passing out. Got me able to walk again, but, well, it wasn't much like trancing." "Trancing?" "Yeah. Elves don't sleep." He blinked, surprised. "You didn't know?" She shook her head. "Oh, well, we don't." "So you've been lying in bed eight hours a day because..?" "Oh! Well, we learn to meditate at a young age. Helps to clear the mind, makes sense of the day while we rest our bodies. It usually takes a bit over four hours. It looks a lot like sleep, with us just lying there, but it's different from unconsciousness." Kei suppressed the urge to comment that sleep was also different than unconsciousness, and instead asked about something more interesting. "So you only... meditate?" "Trance." "Trance for four hours. And yet you lie next to me for the whole night." He shifted his weight; she was on to something. As she applied more pressure, she smiled. "Why?" "Well, ah, strictly speaking, most races only need eight hours of sleep, but often prefer more. It's the same with trancing. We only need four hours, but more brings a sense of energy, refreshment. That, and..." He gave a shy grin. "I just like being near you." A warm feeling coursed through her, and acting on the impulse it brought, she gently cupped his cheek in her hand, drew him close, and kissed him. It was, as the first couple of kisses tend to be, clumsy, but the smile on his face, catch in his breath, utterly relaxed muscles all screamed encouragement. Self-consciousness warred with that encouragement, resolving in her leaning in for a follow up kiss, which turned into another, then another before she broke away. We both need to practice that, she thought absently, but said only, "You're tired. Let's get you into bed." Silently, part of her shouted, Yes, let's! but she quashed it. He's tired. He needs sleep. I'll just put him to bed...She ignored the heat rising in her cheeks. Any maybe climb in next to him. She wasn't particularly tired, but twenty minutes later as she slid into bed beside him, she found that, although sleep proved elusive, she didn't much mind it. She contented herself to lay there, feeling her bare chest pressed pleasantly against his, listening to the slow, shallow breath of sleep- trance, she reminder herself, -and his slow, steady heartbeat. Had she not slept in, she would have found it to be the perfect lullaby to summon dreams. As it was, she merely spent several hours contemplating how nice it felt to, for once, just be. Hitherto, she'd been perpetually in motion, trying to stay ahead of her assailants, the law, financial woes, anything which threatened her. Now, for once, she didn't have to move; she was safe, warm, and with Shino. What's more, with his job, they could live comfortably enough for quite some time. She found herself at a loss for any goals to pursue now that her immediate needs were satisfied. Her nocturnal activities would continue, of course. She did not even consider the alternative. But what to do, then, with her days? She briefly toyed with the idea of amassing wealth but dismissed it as unimportant. After considering the pursuits of wealth, power, and influence, and dismissing each one in turn, she began to think of distraction. As sleep finally began to take hold, she decided that it was time to invest in books. <<<<>>> > She awoke, as she was getting used to, to the feel of Shino's dick pressed against her. She had shifted in the night, and flung her leg over his but had shifted to have her head laying against his chest. Her breasts were sandwiched between them, applying a pleasant pressure, and her sex was nestled against his thigh. He was squirming, which in addition to sliding his hardness against her hip, also had the effect of rubbing his thigh against her. She gave a contented hum, and he froze. Unseen, she rolled her eyes. Yes, I'm awake. Gods, will this boy ever get that I want it too? Taking matters into her own hands, so to speak, she shifted to straddle his hips. As she settled her weight, she gasped at the pressure his shaft exerted on her clit. Oh yes, she thought, I could get used to this. And, judging by the gasp, he could too. A she woke up and warmed up, she found herself getting worked up. She flushed, and her by now engorged lips moistened considerably. The rubbing grew more pleasurable, and Kei planted her hands on his chest and began to rock faster. Shino's eyes were wide, and he made a few strangled gasps each time she reached the end of her slide. Oh, so the tip's sensitive then, is it? Grinning, she shifted her weight forward. As her efforts were focused on the head of his manhood, he grabbed her arms with a strangled grunt. His whole body tensed, which included a sharp thrust which pressed the head of his penis against her clit. That, and the surprise from the almost painful grip, elicited a gasp from her. She half expected Shino to freeze and ask if she was okay, but rather than concern, his eyes held a focus, a single-mindedness bordering on desperation. He wants me. The thought sent a shiver of pleasure down her spine, which did very pleasant things when it reached her hips. Well, she thought as she lifted her hips and lined his head up with her lips, best not disappoint. 'Knock, knock!' Damn it. As the knocking continued, she muttered. "Why can they never be polite visitors? Or better yet, timid ones?" Shino just groaned as she swung her leg back over and hopped out of bed. She cursed as she stumbled upon a prone figure at the foot of the bed, before she remembered who it was. "Miranda, kindly see who it is and tell them I'll be down shortly." The tall woman, blinking sleep out of her eyes, nodded and complied. Forgetting to take off Kei's cloak the only testament to the blond's grogginess. Kei wandered over and put on the first garment she could reach while Shino shook his head and voiced a thought parallel to her own. "Ten more minutes. Voice of the Tyrant, only ten more minutes." She moved over to him, clad only in a bra, cupped his cheek in her hand and said, "I know." His glance darted down, first to her impressive cleavage and then lower to her bare sex. "Later," she said with a smile. "Wait for me." "View like that, I'd walk into a fire if you asked." She laughed, a full-throated sound which brought a huge grin to his face. As she pulled away, he captured her hand and said simply, but with earnest sincerity, "You're beautiful." Such a little thing, and yet it made her breath catch and heart flutter. How does he do that? flashed through her mind, shortly followed by, What's happening to me? Daughter of Treason Ch. 06 A throat cleared behind her, and Kei turned to find Miranda standing there. Great. And I've flashed her again. I hope I'm not making a habit of this. The blond seemed not to notice, or else not care, for she simply bowed and said, "It is a dwarf who calls himself Kressik, Mistress." "Kressik? Tell him I'll be down in a minute." "Your pardon, Mistress, but he requested to speak with-" a pause as she flitted her gaze up at Shino for the briefest instant, before she averted it once more, "the elf." "Oh." She glanced at Shino, who looked pained. "Tell him that he'll be down shortly." Looking at her companion, "I'll be down in a bit as well." Miranda bowed and existed, while Shino groaned. "Aw, hells. I forgot." She raised an eyebrow, but didn't stop sliding on her underthings. "He said he was going to stop by to explain a few more things to me." The elf rapped his head with his knuckles. "And I forgot!" "Stop that." She frowned. "Well, it's inconvenient timing, but perhaps for the best. Some breakfast would not go amiss, and besides..." She grinned. "We can pick up where we left off after." His eyes widened. "Oh. Yes, I think I like the sound of that." She leaned over and kissed him before pulling on a dress. "Good. Now get dressed so we can get back to it sooner." With that, she headed downstairs barefoot to find Kressik seated in a chair, and Miranda positioned on the floor. Shaking her head, Kei took the remaining chair. She had an opening statement about how Shino would be down soon which cunningly did not mention him trying to find a pair of pants, but Kressik ruined that by speaking first. "Nice girl. Where'd you get her?" The temperature in the room seemed to drop by a few degrees. "I beg your pardon?" He noticed, but didn't seem to care. "Where'd you get her? I could use one like her." "You... you mean to purchase a slave?" "Now don't get your knickers in a twist! I 'aint meaning to steal yours and," he said, correctly reading her disgust, "I 'aint the one who already owns one." She bit back a response; from his perspective, he was right, and explaining herself would reveal far more than she would like. Far easier to change the subject. "Shino will be down soon." "Good, good. Need t' explain a few things to him. Glad I caught you as well, though. I've been thinkin'. Remember who, when I told you the rules for sponsorin' a new member, you told me how long it'd take to earn my money back? Well, I checked it m'self, and turns out you were right. That was some good mathematics right there." "Just basic arithmetic," she said dismissively. "No just about it, lass. Not too many can read on their own, much less do such number jumblin' so easily, nor so quickly. How about you put those skills o' yours t' good se; I've got accounts what need totaling, an' if you can do it faster n' I can, figure I just give you part of what I make workin' the extra couple o' hours, an' we both make a profit." She wrinkled her nose. "A clerk?" "What, you think you're royalty, an' a quill is beneath you? A silver for an hour's work, maybe less is nothin' t' sneeze at, an' that goes double for a workin' girl such as yourself." Kei bristled. She had spent much of her life trying to survive, yes, but some things stick with you. Like, for example, an argument between parents the child wasn't supposed to hear, in which the father proclaimed loudly, in a blatant display of classism that he'd sooner die than see any daughter of his 'ink ledgers like a common merchant.' Of course, her mother won that particular argument, and Kei's tutoring continued regardless, but the notion of a clerk as lesser wound itself into her world view nonetheless. She was about to, as politely as she could manage, decline when Shino, apparently having found his pants and thrown on the first shirt he came across, said, "That's a great idea!" She winced. "I'll keep it in mind." She stood and gestured for Shino to take the seat. "I'm sure you two have much to discuss. I'll leave you to it." "Oh. You can stay, you know." She smiled at Shino, full of promise. "I could, but I'd rather see to getting us some breakfast." "Oh! Okay, then. Thank you!" Kei ascended quickly, driven by appetite both nutritional and carnal. While Shino, it seemed, had no trouble cooling down, Kei's body was still demanding release. She briefly considered taking matters into her own hands while he was busy, but dismissed it. She needed food anyway, and besides, it would feel so much better to have him do it. With thoughts like these in her head while she stood staring absently out the kitchen window, she didn't notice Miranda until the tall but surprisingly quiet woman was just behind her. "You wish for food, Mistress?" Kei jumped, and took a few moments to recover her balance before saying, "Um, yes, I was going to make something. Why, are you hungry?" "No, but if you wish, I can make you something." "You can cook?" "Yes, Mistress, it was among my duties." She frowned. She didn't much like the idea of using the same services that the rats had before her, however benign it might me. "I can make it myself." "If the Mistress wishes..." Great. Now she's disappointed. Kei sighed. "Well, if you make something simple..." An hour later, Kei was staring at a two course meal. The timing wasn't bad; Shino had just finished talking with Kressik, and the accidental fasting the night before wasn't doing either of them any favors. This gave the food a definite appeal, but still... "You call this simple?" Miranda looked crestfallen. "Does it not please you, Mistress?" "No! It's wonderful, but..." Kei surveyed the veritable feast, especially compared to her usual fair. The eggs Kei had bought had scrambled into fluffy yellow chunks speckled with green onions and strings of cheese, the grain Kei had bought as a staple had been hand-crushed and boiled into a steaming bowl of groats, and the bread had been warmed slightly over the stove to give it a crisp texture and lathered with butter. "It just seems a bit much." Miranda stared at the meal, then bowed deeply. "I am sorry, Mistress. I did not mean to waste your food." "No, damn it! That's now what I-" "What she means to say is," interrupted Shino, riding to the rescue, "that it's very good, but she doesn't want to overwork you." He gave Kei a meaningful glance. "Isn't that right?" She breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes, exactly." "Oh." She paused, considering, before she bowed and said, "As the Mistress wishes." Her tone and face broadcasted reluctance. Kei sighed."You like cooking, don't you?" A smile muscled out the frown. "Yes, Mistress! It was always one of my favorite duties." Kei wasn't sure whether to groan or laugh. Her stomach solved the conundrum by growling. I guess I can permit her to make meals, if she enjoys it. The meal went quickly. Kei had scarfed it down, enjoying the taste but impatient to move on to other things. Shino, on the other hand, appeared to have been trying to savor it. That is, until he looked up and saw her finished with her meal, staring at him with smoldering passion in her eyes. He ate so fast after that she wondered if he even tasted his food. Although Kei had declined to get herself off, she had been squeezing her legs together without realizing it, which stimulated her labia just enough to increase her arousal further. By the time Shino was finished eating, she was about ready to jump him right there in the kitchen. She therefore considered it an act of restraint to merely drag him by the hand to the bedroom, leaving the dishes for Miranda. "Did the food please you, Mi-" Kei practically bowled over the taller woman on her way out "Yes, the meal was excellent, Miranda. Kindly attend to the dishes, and whatever else you like so long as you avoid the bedroom. I don't wish to be disturbed." When the blond responded only with a deep bow and a "Yes, Mistress," Kei could have kissed her. Well, she reflected with a satisfied grin, not quite, when I have someone much more fun to kiss right here. They arrived in the bedroom, and Kei made sure not to waste the opportunity. She spun around, grabbed him by the shirt, and pulled him into a fierce kiss. Although poorly executed, it got the point across. His eyes widened, and he grabbed back, his fingers digging into her shoulders which indeed had begun to bruise from earlier. He pushed her towards the bed, having just enough presence of mind to kick the door closed first. She chuckled, letting herself be pushed onto the mattress in what she hoped was a sexy pose. Shino struggled to remove his shirt, but a 'come hither' motion from Kei quickly gave him another priority. He knelt, draped himself over her, propped up by one arm, and kissed her, his hand running up her side. Although she appreciated his gentleness, she was horny, and needed more than just gentle caresses. Grabbing his hand, she put it squarely on her breast. When he still hesitated, she pressed on it, and moaned at the sensation. He tentatively began to massage her breast, and she rewarded him with a smile. "Go on. I won't break." He began squeezing in earnest, and when gasps and moans were first encouraged, they were now pulled out, particularly when he found her nipple through both bra and dress and pinched. His kiss began migrating from her mouth to cheek, and cheek to ear. Taking the opportunity to feel more of him, she ran her hands up his arms, enjoying the feel of his biceps through his shirt. As his kisses moved down to her neck, she tilted her head back to give him better access. She ran her hands back down, squeezing his butt reflexively after he pinched her nipple again, before slipping her hands under his shirt and running her nails up his back. Ooh, judging by that groan, I think he likes it. Repeating the process, she was rewarded with another strangled gurgle. He removed his hand from her breast, and she was about to make a frustrated comment when she saw where the hand went. With a pained grunt, he shifted something in his pants and slowly withdrew the hand. She raised an eyebrow, grin on her face, and he said, "What? It was getting really uncomfortable." She laughed. "If the ants are hindering you so, you could just take them off." "Guh... yeah! Yeah I could!" "But let's start," she purred, running her nails down his spine and enjoying the shudder, "with this." She grabbed his shirt and pulled it up. Some grace was lost in the struggle to get it off without forcing him to face plant by pulling on both sleeves at once, but with that beautiful, defined torso in front of her, Kei found that she didn't much care. He leaned down to kiss her again, and while her hands explored his chest, he settled his groin against hers. She gasped as, albeit through four layers of fabric, his hardness pressed against her clit. "Oh. Oh my, now that's more like it- oh!" He thrust suddenly, both increasing the pressure and providing delightful friction on both the nubbin and her engorged lips. "Oh, now I think we must get you out of those pants!" He grinned, and rose back up onto his knees. Not taking his eyes off hers, his hand drifted to his belt and... struggled. She raised an eyebrow again, and his grin grew sheepish. After several moments, she asked with a smirk, "Need a hand?" "No, no, I got it." His features fixed themselves in the most adorable frown of concentration. A few more moments passed, and Kei was about to ask if she should cut the belt off, when with a click and a slide, he held the belt aloft with a triumphant, "Aha!" So cute. Out loud, she asked, "And the rest?" He gave a nervous chuckle, but the hunger in her eyes egged him on. He stood, hooked his thumbs in the waistband of his pants and briefs, and pulled them down in one swift motion. His manhood bobbed free, proud and tall, and Kei couldn't help but to lick her lips. Shino resumed his position between her legs, and she gasped at the renewed pleasure and contact. She ran her nails up his back again and moaned at his reflexive thrust. "Oh, now I think I'm the one wearing too much." Planting a foot on the mattress, she flipped herself and Shino over in one acrobatic movement. His eyes widened with surprise, and he seemed about to comment when she erased those thoughts from his mind by hiking up her dress and puling it over her head. She found herself clad only in her underthings, and even then not for long. Reaching behind her, it was a small thing to take off her bra, and as her breasts came spilling out, Shino couldn't help but to grab them. In his excitement, he squeezed roughly, but as evidenced by her soft moans, she quite enjoyed the firm treatment. He squeezed, and she moaned, he lightly ran his fingers along the skin, and she held her breath. He rolled her nipples between his fingers, and she gave a gasping squeak that she didn't even realize she could make. After several minutes of glorious pleasure, she murmured, "I'm still wearing too much." She dismounted, and both of them held their breath as she slowly slid her panties down her legs and off entirely. Shino gave an appreciative sigh. "Gods, you're beautiful." She smiled, then threw her leg back over him and pressed her sex against his. He groaned, and she relished the sensation, but after a few thrusts, she wanted more. Rising up onto her knees, she grabbed his manhood, slick with her juices, and aimed it up. It nestled against her lips, engorged and ready, and his eyes met hers. For a moment, all was still. She pressed down, and- 'Knock knock knock!' Shino threw his head back. "Gods damn it!" Kei rolled off the bed, grabbed the sheet bunched up at the foot, wrapped it around herself, looked Shino in the eye and said, "Stay. Right. There." She swept out of the room, down the stairs, and strode with such barely restrained anger that Miranda, who had been moving to answer the door, skittered out of the way and into a deep bow. Without bothering to see who it was, Kei threw wide the door. Gerome stood there, first looking thoughtful then, as he took in her face, nervous. As he took in the rest of her appearance, that changed to flustered; her nipples were poking through the sheet, and a gap up one leg made it abundantly clear she was wearing nothing underneath. As if he weren't already off-balance enough, the only thing she said was an impatient, "What?" "Guh, um, I, uh, I wanted to-" "Spit it out!" He took a moment to compose himself, tear his gaze away from her body and back to her face, and tried again. "Uh, didjahearthenews?" Her impassive gaze spoke volumes; 'Get on with it.' Gathering momentum, he said, "Well, I heard something interesting. A few days ago, someone posted a threat on the front door of one of the Rat Gang's houses. And a few nights ago, someone made good on that threat." She stiffened. "And you're telling me this why?" "Well," he said with a smile, "thing is, he fought like a demon. Killed thirteen men, all by himself. Left-handed, even. Got wounded, though." He held her gaze. "On the side, and the arm. The left arm." "What-?" she started to demand, but he cut her off. "Took someone with him, too. A slave. Tall, blond, name started with an 'M', though I can't seem to remember," he rumbled, stroking his smooth-shaved chin in a pantomime of forgetfulness. "What," she said through narrowed eyes, "are you implying?" "Me? Nothing. I just thought it was interesting" He was lying through his teeth; she didn't even need body language to tell her that. "Anyhow, after I heard, I figured I'd go get you this," he said, holding out a wooden holy symbol of the Judge, "for your studies." She took it, but he didn't let go. "You know what the symbolism is for it, right?" Of course she did; four arms, representing good and evil, law and chaos, circumscribed in a circle, representing all of creation. The good and evil arms of equal length, representing impartiality, and greater law than chaos, asserting that justice is universal. But of course he was going to explain it anyway- "It's a reminder," he said, "that more often than not, the Judge is on the side of angels, dispensing retribution to the wicked." He let go, allowing her to keep the wooden circle and cross. He scanned her face, and though she said nothing, it was plain as day that he'd hit the nail on the head. Smiling, he said, "Well, I'll see you tomorrow for more studies?" She nodded. "Tomorrow." He grinned. "And, uh, enjoy yourself 'till the-" She closed the door in his face, muffling his teasing comment, and swept back upstairs. She had something to finish, damn it. She entered the room, tossing the holy symbol on the bedside table and casting off the sheet. "Who was it?" asked Shino, looking worried, if perhaps distracted by the sudden display of flesh. "Gerome, delivering that." She nodded to the piece of wood on the desk while her eyes took in the wood standing up straight in the bed. "Now, where were we..." "Oh, well I think we were- umph!" Kei draped herself over him, sliding up his body to kiss him passionately. Clumsy, but as before, it got the point across. He wrapped his arms around her and thrust, his manhood pressing against her clit. Not a new trick, but it certainly wasn't getting old. "Oh." She started rocking her hips, and his hands migrated to her breasts, found her nipples, and pinched. She gasped, and looked down at him, a dazed smile on her face. "Oh my. You are getting good at thi- ah!" That thrust caught her by surprise, and he followed it up with another pinch. Fluidly, not giving her a chance to recover, he cupped her breast in one hand and squeezed. When her vision cleared enough to make out his face, she leaned in and gave voice to the thought dominating her mind. "I need you inside me. Now." The way he shuddered at the words, it seemed that he agreed. Lifting her hips off him, she took his hardness in her hand and aimed it up. Not waiting around for another knock, she lowered herself down and- "Ah!" "Are you alright?" From the look on his face, he couldn't tell if the sound was borne of pain or pleasure. Frankly, neither could she. Neither did she care. Her fingers wrapped around his arms, the nails digging in. Clenching her jaw shut, she pulled back slightly, shuddering in pleasure, and tried again. Again, her brain couldn't process, couldn't sort the signals it was receiving neatly into pleasure or pain, and again Shino opted for caution. "Stop, don't hurt yourself." Her eyes opened a crack, and as she squeezed his arms so hard she nearly drew blood, she vocalized that the only semi coherent thought she had: "More." She shifted her weight, rising a fraction of an inch before, while Shino was still reeling from the intensity of her lust, she let herself slam back down. This time, it was definitely pain. Her eyes snapped open, her face contorted, her muscles clenched, and yet even that sensation drove her lust still higher. For a few minutes, the hurt was intense enough to hold her still while Shino stroked her hair and asked her if she was okay, but lust won out eventually, and she started moving her hips. Everything, every scent, sound, sensation seemed brighter, more vivid more intense. She couldn't hold back a moan, something which Shino noticed. "You- you're okay?" His voice was strained, and she could feel the tension in his chest where her hands were planted. His face was contorted in a sort of hopeful grimace, and she could practically feel his restraint weakening, like the ominous creak of timbers about to crack. She tried to smile, but she'd never been good at controlling her face, and at the moment lust is what shone through. All she could manage in response was a breathy, "yes."