“You need to be more careful,” Lilith scolded.
“So says my wife, the paragon of caution,” Rhea snorted.
“I think that went rather well,” Florian said from behind them, flashing a winning smile as if this had all been a spot of good fun.
Gareth grunted, and Keira rolled her eyes as the doors of the many wagons opened slowly, the merchants finally daring to peek out to see if the danger had passed.
“I need a drink,” Knox said, sheathing his twin swords.
At least they could all agree on that.
Keira
The merchants had gratefully paid them the agreed price upon their safe arrival in Alderdale. It was a hearty sum made greater when Rhea discovered that the town had promised its own bounty to whosoever rid their road of the goblin menace. As such, when they retired to the local tavern, their pockets heavy with gold, the Blades of Fate were in the mood for celebration. The Copper Cauldron was livelier than Keira would have expected for such a remote village, though its position at the crossroads likely meant it was often flush with travellers.
They’d return to Stormhaven come morning, return home she supposed. Three years she had lived in the city, two of which she’d spent with the Blades. Yet Keira didn’t truly consider Stormhaven her home. It remained simply the place where she was. She’d come to the largest port city on the southern coast with a mind to find passage across the channel. Somehow or other, she’d never made it that far. Much of her life had not turned out as she had once planned it. Though she always set herself in one direction, Fate seemed to have other ideas.
It was enough to make one wonder whether there really was an all knowing Fate out there, as many believed, maintaining the path of destiny and ensuring all played out according to its design. When she was younger, she had not put much stock insuch things, though even then she had been struggling against its current.
Keira was considering this notion as she ordered her second mug of ale.
When they had first arrived, Gareth and Rhea had settled early on into a game of dice, as Keira sought her own place at the bar. They caught her eye now as Rhea let out a triumphant laugh. Her coils of black hair were unbound now, falling long over her shoulders, ornamented with beads of gold and bone. Already, Lilith was seated across her lap, ale in hand, helping her pull a pile of winnings into her pouch. Gareth shook his head and forfeited his seat. Even without his armor, his presence was massive. His thick frame was layered generously with muscle born from years of training and fighting and killing.
Lilith immediately began issuing lively challenges to taunt strangers into taking up his place. It was only a moment before one agreed. Lilith gave Rhea a lengthy kiss. “For luck,” she said. Keira’s chest tightened painfully. It only ever took one drink with those two before they were all over one another. But they were happy, she told herself. Rhea looked at her wife like she hung the moon. Keira knew that feeling. It wasn’t their fault that it pained her like an old wound to remember it.
“You hardly look like you’re in the proper celebratory mood,” Florian’s voice sounded as he slid beside her at the bar. She turned, surprised to see him. Normally, they would lose him early into the night to whomever he’d found to spend it with.
Florian was gripping his own mug of ale, wearing his customary twisted smile. His face- it was pretty. There was nothing else to be said about it, and he knew it too. His features were cut at wicked, charming angles around eyes of bluish green. Even his long black hair carried notes of inky blue, like raven wings. Beneath his leather coat, his shirt had been unknotted toreveal a glimpse of his muscular chest where an iron medallion hung from a simple cord.
Keira rolled her eyes and took a drink.
Florian went on anyway. “You’ve spoiled us all terribly, you know that, don’t you? Before you, Rhea’s leg would have taken us out of the game for weeks. That or pay half the purse for a healer.” He snorted.
“I’m glad to be good for something at least,” Keira grumbled into her ale.
Florian humored her with a smile. “We both know you’re good for a lot more than that.” He raised his brow in a suggestive arch. “Speaking of, I was thinking maybeIcould showyoua little magic tonight?”
Keira scowled.
“Oh, come on.” He turned to face her directly. “You know we had a good time that one night back in-”
“I was very drunk that night,” Keira cut in.
Florian leaned backward over the bar, smiling winningly. “Two more, please.”
Of course, the barmaid blushed and chuckled at his antics.
He returned with a victorious smirk as if to say,see, everyone else thinks I’m charming.
“I thought you and Knox were-” Keira glanced at the corner where Knox had stationed himself for the evening. His silver eyes were nearly luminous in his shadowy corner as he focused on what appeared to be a sketch. She supposed she’d never looked this closely at whatever it was he busied himself with on evenings such as this, though she forgave herself the inattention. They were hardly close.
Florian shook his head. “You know I can’t be tied down, not even for his fine-”
Keira raised a hand, begging him not to finish that sentence.
“I could always find myself in your room tonight,” he teased as he took another drink. “The others wouldn’t have to know.”
“Nope.”
