Day 2
I was leaving the dungeons when I saw Lucretia coming my way, looking serious and jingling as always. I'd never understood her jewelry obsession, personally. All trinkets did were get in the way. I crossed my arms when she stopped before me.
"Naki has been poisoned," she announced bluntly.
I went cold, and my first thought went down to the little twerp in a cell. "What?" I demanded, starting to dash up to Naki's room, and stopped at Lucretia's hand gripping my shoulder.
"She'll be fine. I've done what I can. We need to focus on bringing those who did this to justice." Her hand dropped to her side as I stilled against my better judgement. "The knife Cordel used was poisoned."
Though I wasn't very fond of Lucretia, I admired how she would just say what she needed to say. The grip on my staff tightened, and I muttered between gritted teeth, "Then why aren't we headed there right now to put an end to him?"
She gave me a look that reminded me of the reasons behind my rather extreme dislike of her. It was one of disdain mixed with a mocking sort of pity. "Please. We both know of Cordel. He's not the kind for such underhanded dealings. Someone with more than half a brain is behind this, and he's what will lead us to him."
I sighed, pressing my fingers of one hand against an eyebrow. I had no patience for this kind of thing. I just wanted to get it over with. Let me kill whoever I needed to kill, just don't make me wait for some overcomplicated plan. I knew she was right though. "Fine. What do you need? Soldiers? Guards?" I grimaced. "Please tell me you don't need me?"
Lucretia smiled a bit. "Not necessarily. I need him here to get information out of him. Can you arrange that without raising red flags for whoever hired him?"
I cocked my head. "Yes. Yes I can." We parted soon after that.
Day 3
I was stressed. Too many things had gone on in the last two days for me too not fidget when I had to stand still and talk to anyone, to not behead the next person that spoke to me, so I went to the practice grounds and began to practice some manuevers with my staff. The dummy was taking the brunt of my frustrations (and, yes, grief over learning we had lost so many men and General Halfir that morning though I would be telling no one that). Most of the soldiers weren't willing to spar with me any longer. They had learned their lessons. At some point before I knocked the poor thing's head off, I noticed Talon watching. I stopped and looked at him, raising an eyebrow.
"Mind if I have a go?" he asked politely. The men around us began snickering and laying wagers. I wondered idly if they were betting on me or him. If they were betting on him, things would have to change and quickly.
Smirking, I nod, stepping away from the dummy. "I always love a good fight." We soon stood toe to toe. It had been a while since I had fought against two swords, but I was fairly confident. I quickly made the first move, swinging at his ribs.
He blocked easily- not that I was surprised- and struck with his remaining sword. I in turn blocked that and struck upwards. I growled as he ducked under with a smile.
"Its been a while since a mortal has lasted this long against me. You have much to learn though." Mid sentence, as I was trying to accept the fact that the elf had enough nerve to insult me, the bastard kicked my feet out from under her. Gasping for breath, I watched as he swung his blades down and replied with a kick to his chest, making him fly backwards. I got up quickly as he tried to catch his breath.
"Of course the elf is full of himself." I swung at him again, not giving him much time to recover. "I think I've got a few years on you, so I wouldn't be so quick to assume you're better." I feinted at his left hip before swinging up, aiming for his head. He blocked me again, and I laughed. It had been a long time since I'd had a fight this good. I spun around, hoping to catch him off guard as my staff whirled in the air, and staggered a bit when he side stepped it completely.
He began to talk with an all knowing smirk on his face,"Sloppy. Your footing is all wrong. Your wrists don't bend enough and you're letting your emotions control your movement."
I scoffed, glaring at him and put everything I had into the next swing, raising my arms over my head. This elf would learn never to speak to me like this. Again, the bastard stepped out of the way and leaned in close as I recovered my center of gravity.
"To slow," he breathed by my ear.
My eyes narrowed, and I gritted my teeth. This elf was too sure of himself. I straightened up, only to duck under a swing. I let him take the offensive for a while, grudgingly admiring his form. Cocky but good, I thought as I blocked a blow. He swung at my thigh, and I met it with a little more swing than it called for. With a quick upward thrust I was able to make one sword fly out of his hand. I grinned. "Slippery hands?"
He smiled at me. "No. I decided to make the fight more even."
I scoffed as he winked at me and bent down. I considered taking care of him then but knew it would be a low blow. I couldn't have my reputation ruined for one spar.
"Never forget warchief. My people have been a warlike race for centuries." I watched him closely as he picked up his other sword. "I was raised to fight. And my blades do have a few tricks." He clicked the pommels of his swords together, and they joined together. That was quite intriguing. "Now we can fight on even grounds," he said and charged at me.
Before I could get too insulted at the insinuation, I was attacked with a barrage of manuevers.
Forehand, backhand, parry, duck, thrust, and swing. I blocked each quick attack as it came and realized as it went on at an unforgiving pace that he was going straight from the book. I shook my head a little and backed away, continuing to block his strikes. I ignored the men's murmurings when I leaned against my staff, breathing harder than I'm wish to admit. "I'll give you some credit. That was wonderful staff work. But entirely predictable. It's almost as if you've memorized the entire military handbook on basic staff techniques," I managed when he lowered his weapon, looking a little surprised.
He smiled, looking smugger than before if that could be possible." Indeed I did."
I jumped at him when he seemed to relax, coming close to slamming my staff into his shoulder. He moved just in time. I threw every twist I knew at him, thinking at some point he would be surprised. He always reacted quickly enough. Both of our faces shone with seat, and I could hear his breaths as loudly as I'm sure he heard mine. It came to our staffs locked which was dangerous for me. Though I would never say so, I wasn't likely to win a battle of strength. I gave him a smile that was more a grimace and managed through gasps, "Sometimes, you've got to throw the book away." I wasn't sure what I was going to do, but it would have been beautiful whatever it was. I never got a chance to make something up because Naki called, striding through the ring of soldiers.
"Eira! We don't have time for playing."
I took a step back from Talon as he did the same and shrugged, nodding at him. "You've got good technique there. We'll have to finish this some other time."
He bowed to me." Indeed we shall. " I raised an eyebrow as he leaned toward me and whispered in my ear, " I can only say I feel sorry for your husband."
I stiffened, backing away slowly without replying. Surely Talon didn't know about him... I looked back one more time before following the Queen, perplexed.
We stopped when he called out, "Drakon team! Assume duties." Ten soldiers quickly encircled the queen and assumed a defensive circle.
I grinned in approval. The only way to protect Naki was to do so without her permission. To her credit, she was taking it fairly well. She just glanced at Talon curiously.
"Just for protection. Besides. I get to make a visit to the man who assaulted you and dared to challenge you." He cracked his knuckles and bowed as Naki gave an exasperated sigh and waved at me to continue walking. I nodded. Talon could be trusted to arrest Cordel without too much of an outburst.
I leaned over to her and whispered so none of the guards could hear. "See, someone agrees with how I think things should be run."
"Two idiots gathering together doesn't make either of them right," She muttered quietly, sending another annoyed glance at Talon. She hesitated a moment, then glared at me. "Speaking of idiots, did you tell Lucretia that she could give me the choloroform?"
I raised an eyebrow, ignoring the comment about idiots. Naki just hated to be wrong. "Why no. No I didn't."
"I didn't either," she flexed her hand, glaring at it a long moment. "I didn't tell her she could do a lot of things... oh well." She shook herself. "Are you busy? I need to talk to you about some things."
I shook my head. "I'm at your service. What things do I need to know?"
"That this needs to be a private conversation." She lifted a letter, waving it at me. "And I'll tell you more when we get to my rooms?"
I frowned at the letter. In the last few weeks I had realized that letters rarely carried good news. We walked with the circle of guards around us and were allowed into her rooms alone with relative ease. I glared at the men as I walked past. "I catch any hint of eavesdropping, and none of you will be on the pay roll anymore, understand?" I closed the door at their salute and turned to face Naki. "What's in the letter?"
"He finally decided to answer, for once," She sighed, throwing the letter down on the desk. "You can look at it yourself. It looks like we're going to Genor."
Skimming through the letter quickly, I felt a strange mix of happiness, forboding, and annoyance that squeezed my chest. I was glad we were finally getting things done instead of playing this silly game of spies and assassins, but I knew that going to Genor would require a lot of diplomatic time wasting which I never had patience for. A voice in the back of my head whispered that it wasn't wise to trust anyone, not Genor by going into their country without an idea of what lay behind the borders or Neko by getting close to the bastards. "This is definitely... a step forward," I murmured, handing the letter back.
"Step forward? This is more than that. I've been sending Genor letters for weeks now."
I step forward and study her for a long moment, wondering if she would be ready for this after everything she had- and was still- recovering from. "Are you sure we can trust them, Naki?" I asked slowly, wanting to ask if she really thought she could handle this right now.
"No," she answered with a shrug. "But I know that I can't trust Rhames."
Sighing, I shrug. "I don't see how we can't go. We leave tomorrow?"
"I haven't decided, yet... I'm kinda thinking I might head out tonight, find my own route, then let a nervous Talon bring his procession the way the Genorians are expecting us to come tomorrow... or whenever he realizes I'm missing."
I laugh, knowing I should hate the idea, but loving Naki for suggesting it. "Well, I will refuse to be left behind."
"I know," she grinned. "That's the reason I'm telling you-- so you can plan rather than come hunting me down in the middle of the night."
Rolling my eyes, I murmur, "How kind of you. If you don't need anything else, Talon should be back soon, bringing me a prize. I need to go ask Cordel a few questions." I flash a fierce grin.
"That sounds like fun," she took a step forward, swayed, and caught herself using her desk, huffing a sigh. Her mouth pressed into a hard line as her eyes narrowed. I stopped myself from rushing to her side, knowing she wouldn't like me to hover. "Maybe I'll just watch..."
Frowning darkly, I shook my head. "No. What you're going to do is rest, so that you're ready for tonight." I push her towards the bed, ignoring her complaints and curses. Finally, when I had forced her to sit, I said softly, "I'm just worried so is Lucretia, and if we both agree, surely you realize that it must be right. At least pretend to rest for me until I'm out of here? Then get up and try to work yourself to death again?"
She glared at me in return, and I gave her a sickly sweet smile, walking away already. "See? I'm leaving. You'll only have to pretend for a few more seconds." She threw some not so complementary words my way, but they hit the door. I shook my head and strode away, excited to have a chance to play with Cordel.
Spoiler! :
Gender:
Points: 12208
Reviews: 463