A Mutual Understanding

[Annisthyrienne]

Skyguy's post

Mir frowned at her. "Plenty she could do that wouldn't need me to move about." he groused. The sheets stirred a bit at his groin. Part of him certainly liked the ideas that brought to mind. "Yes, go back and wait for the elf. Golden hair, long ears, kind of a bitch. Grab her and drag her back but keep it quiet. The guards are looking for a reason to kick us out of town. We need to keep this quiet." He ate some of the fruit, taking a big bite from an apple and chewing it up. "We also don't want the seamstress catching on. She wanted Spiriel bad. If she thinks someone's coming after her she may bolt and take Spiriel with her."

He leaned back against the headboard and tried to move his leg. It still hurt, a lot. He grimaced and instead moved himself around with his hands, adjusting his position on the bed. "You can sell the drow stuff. Just save some of the witches' armor. That's small enough and light enough Spiriel could probably wear it. The warrior's stuff will be too heavy. It'll wear her out in an hour. I have a feeling we might need the money when the time comes to move."

 

[Annisthyrienne]

Helwyn smirked at his answer. Typical male....typical Mir, she thought. She noticed the stirring of the sheets and lifted one eyebrow in surprise. She wouldn't have expected him to feel up to anything so soon. Maybe she underestimated him. "Maybe you should save your energy for when we get your girl back."

She rose and reached for her sword again, preparing to head out. "I'll be careful. Don't worry. I have no desire to deal with the town guards any more than you do. Although it wouldn't bother me personally to leave this town behind, whether by my own choice or their insistence. I'll get the elf for you. I think I'll enjoy it actually. And when we find out where your darkling is, we can sell the drow stuff before we go get her."

She paused at the door, turning back once more before leaving. "Stay put. I'll be back as soon as I get her. In the meantime, you can think of all the ways you will persuade her to tell us where to find your darkling."

 

[Annisthyrienne]

Althea huddled in her cloak as she walked along the street, headed back to the shop. Her thoughts were back in the darkened room with the unconscious drow. She'd finally seen, if only briefly, what her own people had done to the girl. It was only the beginning of the abuse she'd suffered for so long. Althea had seen in the drow's memory how she had escaped the only life she'd known, even to risk her death or worse among the surface dwellers. The happiest time the girl had experienced had been during the few days she'd been with the human mercenary. A twinge of guilt brought a scowl to the elf's visage as she thought about her part in ending that relative happiness. It wasn't that she cared about a drow enemy. If that were all it was, she could easily go about her business with a clear conscience. But this wasn't some unknown drow.

She couldn't think of this girl in that way. She 'knew' this drow in a way. Knew that she was not just a despicable dark skinned cruel and hated foe. This was an innocent girl, who had done nothing to deserve the life she'd been dealt. And Althea knew that she had helped to put an end to the one reasonably happy time the girl had ever known. Her head bowed in shame.

She never saw the large figure in the shadows of the narrow gap between the seamstress shop and its neighboring building.

 

[Annisthyrienne]

Every eye turned to follow the large Northerner female as she crossed the common room with her burden squirming and struggling over her shoulder. The shapely form of slender legs and feet kicking in useless struggle from under the skirt, along with the mop of golden blonde tresses gave some of the witnesses the impression that it was an overanxious paramour insistent upon a vigorous play session as the two headed for the stairs. Others looked upon the pair as merely a disruption to their drinking. A few wondered whether someone should intervene on behalf of the struggling elf, but one hard look at the icy expression in Helwyn's eyes warned them to think better of their would-be heroics.

She didn't hesitate as she hoisted the elf up the stairs, bodily carrying her until she pushed open the door to Mir's room, closing it behind her after depositing Althea on the floor next to the bed. Althea struggled to her feet, outrage in her eyes at being so forcibly abducted. Her expression only worsened when she saw the smirk on the face of the human mercenary sitting on the edge of the bed, nearly naked, his leg wrapped in a bandage.

"What is the meaning of this?! Why has this ox of a woman brought me here against my will?" She abruptly fell silent when Helwyn's warning glare and raised hand threatened to show what she thought of being called such a thing. But the elf's eyes still shot daggers at Mir.

 

[Annisthyrienne]

Skyguy's post

Mir let Althea spit and sputter as Helwyn dropped her off, listening impassively to her little tirade. When she finished he just watched her for a moment, waiting before he gave her a looking over. "An elf's an elf." Mir drawled. "Since I seem to have misplaced my last one, you'll do as a replacement." He let her sputter again for a moment before he cut her off. "Or you can help me find my drow. I know the seamstress has her and I want her back. You're going to tell us where she is, or," he paused, "everything you peeked at in my brain comes true one way or another."

"So what's it going to be, are you going to help or are you going to take her place?"

 

[Annisthyrienne]

A heavy cold feeling dropped into the pit of Althea’s stomach as the words of the mercenary sunk in. The scenes she’d witnessed in his mind flashed through hers again in that moment, in vivid clarity. It left her speechless and flushed pink to the tips of her pointed ears. Her mouth opened and closed, working like a fish out of water as she struggled for something to say. But for once, the sassy elvish lips were left only gaping helplessly.

For a moment, she actually considered letting this man take her away from this town and the woman she only recently found out she didn’t know at all. In truth, the seamstress scared her now, more than a little. Knowing what she was capable of, led Althea to understand that in other circumstances, it could just as well have been her under the lash, sating those depraved desires. She recalled the last insinuation she’d heard from the seamstress; suggesting that more beastly desires lay just under the surface to be satisfied. Could going with this human mercenary be any worse than staying?

She stood silently as she regarded him and his threat. She spared a glance over at Helwyn. Despite the way she was bodily brought here, she understood the reason. Mir wanted the drow girl back, and Althea sensed he was willing to do whatever he had to to get her back. And in that hope, she began to lay her scheme.

“Alright, so you know anyhow. Yes, she has your slave girl. She paid her fine to the guards and took custody of her. It’s all legal and there isn’t anything you can do about it.” Althea couldn’t help the haughty note of disdain in her voice. She knew that the drow would be better off with this man than with the seamstress, but she just couldn’t give in to him so easily.

But seeing the expression in his eyes as she met them defiantly, she felt a bit of the pain and frustration he felt at losing the drow And it hit her all over again that this man, this human, genuinely cared about the dark girl. He actually saw her as, and treated her as, a person rather than just a carnal toy, perhaps the first person to do so in her whole life. Althea also felt again the guilt she personally carried for her part in the drow girl’s fate. Her gaze lowered with that guilt, for just a moment before she lifted her eyes again to meet Mir’s unrelenting gaze, and her voice softened noticeably as she continued. “Tell me why I should help you get her back. What benefit do I get by helping you?”

 

[Annisthyrienne]

Skyguy's post

Mir watched her gape at his threat for a moment. 'Elves,' he thought. So haughty and proud even one who was just a seamstress couldn't stand being talked to like that. To her credit though she got it under control and regarded him curiously, like she was sizing him up, judging her chances. That ticked him off. Waylaying her or not, what he was asking for wasn't much, well at least to him. He supposed it could cause issues for her but at this point he really didn't care about the side effects. He wanted out of this damn town WITH Spiriel and if he had to ruin a few lives to do it? Well they didn't mean a damn thing to him.

"Legal," he snorted when Althea first started speaking. He looked up at Helwyn and then back at the elf. "I'm a mercenary; you think I give a damn about legal? Fuck this town and everyone in it. I'm leaving and never coming back, so I couldn’t give a shit about legal."

"What benefit?" Mir asked with his dander up. "Let's start with me not bending you over the bed and seeing if I can't fuck that tight little ass. I'm not joking. I either leave with Spiriel or I leave with you. Keep delaying and I may take you anyways!"

He stepped back and took a breath. "There's no benefit to you; just me and the drow gone, never to darken your doorstep. If that's not enough benefit for you then you're about to have a very bad night."

 

[Annisthyrienne]

Althea listened, but felt her confidence returning. The human was wounded, and looked as if he’d been abed the whole day. She doubted he could carry through with his threats, and more importantly, this might be her only chance.

“I doubt you could do what you think you could, certainly not without a lot of pain and a high price to pay for you. So you are wasting your time threatening me. How about listening to what I have to propose instead. You see, you forget that I have seen into your mind. I know how you feel about that drow. Oh sure, you bluster and threaten, but you might be the only person in this town who cares about her.”

She paused, her hands moving to rest on her hips as she shifted her weight, cocking one hip to the side. It had the unintended effect of enhancing her slender figure. But she continued, unaware of the effect. “You will leave this town soon, and with your drow. I would not keep you from her, could not, even if I meant to. I am proposing that it would be for the best if the two of you did leave. It would certainly be better for her than where she is now.”

She saw the glint of anger flash in Mir’s eyes and involuntarily took a step back, only to bump into the looming figure of Helwyn, who had silently moved up behind her. Althea’s eyes showed just a moment of fear before she hurriedly tried to explain. “No, wait! I mean to help you get her back….but you will have to trust me. And there is a price.” She glanced back at Helwyn rather nervously. “It’s obvious that you have recruited additional protection to make up for being hurt. Between the two of you, you should be safe to travel. I can help with your wound, and help you get your girl back, but you must take me away from here with you. If I help you, I would be crossing my employer, and I won’t be able to stay in this city with her after that. She has powerful contacts here.”

“Consider it. If you will do this, I will bring your girl to you. We could meet somewhere, some secret place, possibly just outside of town. I wouldn’t have to stay with you long, just until you get me to another city where I can start over.”

 

[Annisthyrienne]

Skyguy's post

Rage flashed through Mir's eyes as Althea casually dismissed his threats. They were just threats of course. At this point an elf wasn't an elf. Spiriel was unique and special and Althea couldn't just take her place. And like it or not he was neither in the mood, nor of the inclination to just take it from Althea. He liked a little fight sometimes, but a willing fight.

"Fucking elf!" he snarled as she finished dismissing his threats and laying bare how he felt about Spiriel. He listened to her start her offer, his eyes at least somewhat able to appreciate that at just about any other point in his life he'd have been trying to convince Althea to spend the night, at least until she mentioned Spiriel's condition. "How is she being treated?" he snapped, taking a step towards her but she only faltered a moment before completing her proposal.

It was tempting. Getting Spiriel back without having to spill blood, just disappearing into the night and putting this shit hole behind him? He was in no condition to fight, that was certain, but she might be trying to set him up with the guards. He'd done nothing too untoward yet, but the Captain certainly would love to take him in. Still, he was in no shape to fight, and couldn't in good conscience ask Helwyn to walk into one for him.

"Fine, but I want you to remember something. Helwyn, Rothgar, and I killed an entire patrol of drow, with spell casters. If you're thinking of betraying us, think long and hard about whether we're people you want to piss off. Where the main road north meets the road to the villages to the east, meet us at that cross roads, quickly, and bring Spiriel. If anything happens to her, or you try and cross us, I assure you that you will wish the worst thing that happened to you was taking Spiriel's place."

 

[Annisthyrienne]

Althea stood in silence a moment. It was actually happening. She had a way out. But it was too soon and not soon enough all at the same time. She had to arrange things, and the drow would be waking up, and then her mistress would have at her again. She was already hurting; how much more could she take? And what kind of condition would she be in when it came time to return her to the mercenary. And perhaps the biggest question of all, when he saw her, how would he react? Would he back out of the deal? Would he become violent. Would he take it out on Althea?

The storm of thoughts showed in her eyes as a cloud of doubt, but she found herself nodding, then shaking her head. "The meeting place is agreed, but....." Althea hesitated, wondering how she could put the news delicately. "I will need a little time to make arrangements. She is watched constantly. It will be hard to get her away, and when last I saw her, she was, uhm, sleeping." Her hesitation was obvious, and she shuffled her feet, wondering how to explain. Instead, she stalled again. "As a gesture of good faith, if you let me go back to the shop, I can provide you with the clothing you ordered for her a few days ago."

 

[Annisthyrienne]

Skyguy's post

Mir's eyes narrowed at the lame excuse of sleeping. "How long? The longer we tarry, the more time there is for something to go wrong." He stalked back and forth in the room, agitated and tense. He looked Althea up and down, noting her hesitance.

"What aren't you telling me, elf?" he snapped. "You know something and you're not telling it to me." He looked up at Helwyn and jerked his head towards the door. "Come clean or you don't leave this room."

 

[Annisthyrienne]

Althea cringed at the angry tone she detected in Mir's voice. She was all too aware of the fact that even though this man was wounded and naked before her, he was still powerfully built and had been proven to be proficient in dealing violence to those who made themselves his enemies. Althea realized that she was not anywhere to be found on his list of friends, and might figure high on his list of people he wouldn't mind hurting at the moment.

She noticed his gesture to the woman behind her and felt more than heard Helwyn move. The bolt on the door was thrown with such emphasis that it sounded like a thunderclap in the room to Althea's elvish ears. It made her keenly aware that this time, there were no guardsmen to hold him down in his chair, and not only that, but he had the barbarian woman to back him up. She would be the only other witness to whatever he might choose to do to her, Althea thought, and it was doubtful she would show any sympathy.

But how would he react if she told him the truth? He was already agitated, and finding out his precious drow girl was being abused might just be enough to push him to violence, even against the message bearer. Althea held up her hands in a placating gesture, almost as if pleading for mercy even before she spoke.

"Please, I had to do something. She couldn't take much more. I'm telling you the truth; I did see her sleeping when last my eyes looked upon her. But it was because I gave her something to make her sleep. It was an herbal potion that I learned how to make long ago, when I was apprenticed to a healer. Your drow should sleep until the early morning hours tomorrow at least, I think. For her own sake, I hope it is true. To be honest, I am not certain, because when her own people changed her, their magic may have done things to her that I cannot account for."

She took a moment to catch her breath, making sure to back away from Mir until she could get the explanation out. "I'm basing my estimate on the fact that she is about the same size and weight and body type as I am. But you have to understand that when her people used magic to change her body, it also changed her in other ways. I just don't know if the other changes were because of magic or because of they way they treated her."

The elf saw the question and suspicion in Mir's eyes and she knew she had to risk telling the truth. She would have to get away from this town, and he was her best hope. It would be better if she could get him to consider her an ally instead of an enemy. "Mir, please listen to me. I know now how wrong I was to help the guardsmen. I'm sorry. I was blind, before, with my hatred of the drow. But my hatred of the majority of their race should not be laid upon Spiriel, I see that now. She is as much a victim of the drow as any of my people have been over the years. She is an innocent, in more ways than anyone knows."

Now that she'd started, Althea blurted it all out, unable to stop, and unwilling to have to start all over. Her words came out in a tangled jumble, the thoughts running all together in her haste to try to make him believe her. "When I learned that the guardsmen abused her, I felt sick for my part in helping them against you and her. And now my mistress, the seamstress, has her, and it's as if I don't even recognize her as the same person anymore. I never knew how cruel and sick she could be. She has been binding and whipping the girl most cruelly. She says she has to teach her the place of a good obedient slave. She imagines the girl to be defiant and too high spirited. She thinks she has to break her will. So she applies the lash beyond any measure of mercy. When the drow passes out, she makes me tend her wounds and try to heal her enough for another session. I couldn't take it any more, knowing my part in it all. So I drugged her with the potion."

Finally she wound down, sighing as if getting the burden off her conscience at last had lifted a weight from her spirit. She watched Mir pace the room restlessly as he thought about what she'd told him, and she hoped that he would not hold her in blame. "I thought that if Spiriel was unconscious, then my mistress would believe her unable to withstand any more until she awoke. It was all I could think of to do. Please believe me!"

 

[Annisthyrienne]

Skyguy's post

Mir believed her. No one in her situation could possibly think that what she'd told him was a smart thing to do. His nostrils flared, and the sinews in his neck tightened visibly under his skin as his fists bunched up. He quietly turned his back on Althea and Helwyn, his body visibly trembling as he did so. Anger, and rage, and absolutely no outlet. Harming Althea at this point wasn't any good. She might be overstating how much she was doing for Spiriel's good but she was still his best shot at getting his drow back. Besides, all things considered she wasn't all that bad. Bitchy, but maybe seeing the error of her ways.

He could go storming off to the seamstress' home; charge in and take Spiriel back. It was tempting; it was his usual MO. But... too many unknowns and the odds of them escaping cleanly were non-existent and if he was forced to fight his wound would certainly doom him, if not all of them. He couldn't even go after the seamstress, not properly. Unless she posed an immediate danger to him or someone he cared for, immediate, mortal danger, he didn't have it in him to harm a woman. Even one who had it coming. Ruin her business and ruin the lives of her workers too. There was, quite literally, nothing he could do that would quench the anger he was feeling, and that impotence only made it worse.

He spun back on Althea and stalked towards her, crowding her and pushing her back towards Helwyn. "Do what you promised, but understand this, Elf, I will be asking Spiriel about what you've done. If you're lying to me I will ensure you regret it. And know that your fate is tied to hers. What happens to her will happen to you. I won't give you back to the seamstress and tell her what you've done," he said as he got his face directly in hers. "But I will make you wish I would."

He backed off. "Go, fetch her and meet us at the crossroad." He nodded towards Helwyn to have her open the door.

 

[Annisthyrienne]

Althea winced as she watched Mir stalk angrily towards her. She had seen all the signs of his barely suppressed rage. And as he advanced on her, she backed away, until she was stopped against the immovable obstacle of Helwyn blocking the only escape from the room. Mir came so close that she could feel his breath on her cheek as she cringed.

But the message got through.....loud and clear. Somehow she would have to get her mistress out of the mansion long enough to pack the drow girl into a cart and get her away. There was no way the slender elf could carry someone her own size, especially someone unconscious as she was. But she'd have to try somehow. She couldn't stay in this town once she crossed her employer, and she wasn't sure her lot would be much better if she went with this human mercenary and his barbarian companion and drow slave girl.

Helwyn moved aside, unlocking the bolt on the door. Her hand rested heavy on the elf's shoulder as she guided the slender form through the door. "I'll just go along with you and get those clothes you mentioned. That'll leave less for you to worry about carrying, little elf." She winked at Mir to let him know she'd be back, then followed Althea out of the room.

++++++++++++++++

Althea handed over the wrapped package containing the clothing Mir had commissioned to the Northern warrior woman. It was in part the gesture of good faith that she'd offered before, but is was also partly to get the robust barbarian woman to stop following her. She had slipped the package out the back door of the seamstress' shop so that the other girls working in the front would not see them together. But as Helwyn turned to leave, Althea was suddenly struck with an idea. "Wait! Don't go yet. I have a plan."

+++++++++++++++
Helwyn returned to the inn, her now familiar tread on the stairs warning Mir of her approach. She laid the wrapped package on the bed next to Mir, noting with a smirk that he still had not dressed. "Well, the elf seems to be keeping her end of the bargain. She says this is the clothing you ordered for your darkling girl. You might want to check it out and make sure. I have no idea what you ordered, after all. She could be hoodwinking me."

Helwyn sat beside the package on the bed, her womanly curiosity naturally making her want to see what new clothes someone was getting, even if they were not meant for her. Her eyes met Mir's and she purposefully let them travel down his body, then back up again. "Speaking of clothing, if I didn't know better, I'd say you were waiting for that little tavern wench to return. I thought I warned you against that before. Or, dare I even think it, perhaps this is all part of your plan to convince me that you are fit to travel by showing me how fit you are for....other things."

She chuckled, seeing his reaction, then gestured to the drow armor and weapons. "Perhaps we'll test your stamina some other time. I only have a couple hours until I am supposed to return to the seamstress shop and play my part in the elf's plan. And we'd need more time than that to give you a good, err, 'testing'. The nights in my homeland are long and cold. Why sometimes our men need to take a meal break halfway through just to regain their manly energies!"

"And besides, you wanted me to sell all that stuff for you. Will you be able to pack up all this other gear for you and your darkling slave, or should I get a small cart to haul it all in. You know, if the elf speaks the truth, the drow might not be conscious when we get her back. That could make it difficult to travel with her. Have you got a plan for that?"

 

[Annisthyrienne]

Skyguy's post

Mir didn't shy away from Helwyn's frank appraisal of his body. He'd never felt any need to be ashamed in front of a woman before, and he wasn't going to start now. "Don't worry; if she came back I'd have listened. She would have been doing all the moving, but from the looks of things the last time I saw her, I might just break the poor girl in two. As for you," he took his time looking Helwyn up and down, "We'll have time on the road for a proper test. Although with Spiriel helping I don't think you'll last as long as you think."

He opened up the package of clothes that Althea had sent back. Most of it appeared to be in order from what he could remember. He rifled through them, holding up each dress before trying to fold them back up and put them in the bundle again. "I can pack up if you can sell that stuff. If we can be rid of it we won't need a cart. Spiriel... isn't that big. I can hold her if need be. If you can't sell it then get a cart. I don't know if the elf will have her own horse or not."

 

[Annisthyrienne]

“Well, if she doesn’t, we can always tie her up in a sack and drape her over the saddle of Rothgar’s horse. She ought to be less trouble that way.” Helwyn gathered the armor, weapons, and various items of value that previously belonged to the drow patrol members and headed out the door. She paused in the doorway, the door wide open so that anyone passing by in the hall would have a chance to see Mir in all his glory. With a mischievous gleam in her eye, she sternly warned him, “You might want to get dressed if we’re riding out tonight.” She winked and left, descending the stairs with the large bundle slung over her shoulder.

In the common room below, Helwyn noticed a city guardsman, heavily in his cups. He had a sour expression plastered on his face, and was watching the stairs up to the rooms as if waiting for someone. The sight made her frown, her brows furrowing in worry. The last thing she and Mir needed was trouble with the guards at this point. Just let them get out of town, one more night, and it would all be over. She turned and left the inn quickly.

 

[Annisthyrienne]

Later in the evening, a rather drunk, rather boisterous, and rather large barbarian woman was loudly demanding to see the proprietress of the seamstress' shop. The girls working on the garments in the front work area were quite at a loss as to what to do. They called Althea from the back, who promptly realized the Northerner would not be pacified. She sent one of the girls to retrieve the seamstress from her home, then invited the imposing woman to wait in one of the back rooms until the seamstress arrived to satisfy her clothing needs personally.

Moments later, the elf slipped out the back. She paralleled the route taken by the other girl, but stayed to the shadows and back alleyways as much as possible. She soon arrived at the home of the seamstress, waiting in the bushes as she heard the urgent voice of the girl she'd sent, pleading with the seamstress to return to the shop with her and deal with the impatient and demanding Northerner woman. It took several minutes to convince her, but eventually the demands of her business won out over the seamstress' desire to await the moment her new toy would regain consciousness. After all, hadn't the elf said the dark girl might sleep until the morn? There would be plenty of time to amuse herself with the drow later.

Moments later, Althea slipped into the darkened room where the drow girl slept in her sedative induced haze. Now all she had to do was get the unconscious girl on her feet and out of the city.

+++++++++++++++++++

A quiet knock sounded upon the door to Mir's room. Myra's voice spoke quietly, "Mir, I think there is something you should hear. Will you let me in?"

 

[Annisthyrienne]

Skyguy's post

Mir nodded when she said he might want to get dressed, smirking back when she winked at him. She might have just been trying to keep his spirits up but the northern woman's flirting was keeping from getting as dour as he felt. Getting Spiriel back was paramount but... well Spiriel had seemed quite willing to let Myra play, once she was fit again maybe she wouldn't mind playing with Helwyn. The contrast between his pitch black drown and Helwyn's nordic beauty would be intense.

He hobbled over and closed the door himself before going back to look for his clothes. What Helwyn had left wasn't much, just regular riding clothes and a few choice pieces of plate. He put them on, just simple linen breeches, a shirt, his boots, and a breast plate, his pauldrons, and tassets. Not exactly what he'd wear if he was expecting a fight but it would keep his core protected, somewhat.

He was about to pick up his sword when he heard a knock at the door and Myra's voice. The little barmaid was a welcome sight and with her tone he quickly opened the door, before guiding her in and shutting the door behind her. "What is it?" he asked her. "What do I need to hear? Be quick about it."

 

[Annisthyrienne]

Myra entered the room, breathless in her excitement but a worried look on her features. She noted Mir was up and around, looking much better than the last time she'd seen him. She favored him with a nervous smile. "I thought you'd want to know. There is a man downstairs, a city guardsman. He is very drunk and is boasting about something he says happened in the guardhouse cells. Mir, he is claiming that he hurt your dark girl. The things he is saying, they are so disgusting, so vile. I didn't want to believe him. I thought he was just lying to boost his own image. But he knows about her.....her body. He knows how she is different. He claims he had her in her cell, while he was supposed to be guarding her. He forced her!"

In recounting the claim, Myra's voice had risen in pitch and urgency, betraying her upset at the situation. She knew Mir was in no real condition to fight, with his leg wounded as it was, but she couldn't listen to the drunken braggart's claims any longer. She sat on the edge of the bed beside Mir, wringing her hands in her apron. "What should I do about him?"

 

[Annisthyrienne]

Helwyn was enjoying herself. It wasn't often she got to play the role of a wealthy but demanding brat. And knowing what this particular seamstress had done to her new partner and his concubine gave her a particular pleasure in being as difficult a 'customer' as possible. Of course she had no intention of ordering any custom clothing; there would not be time to have it made before they would be leaving.

But the seamstress didn't have to know that.

The Northern woman had done well in selling off all the captured drow equipment, armor, weapons, and items of value. She had a fat jingling purse to show for it, and was making sure the seamstress was aware of the fact. Of course it could be risky if she were carrying that sort of coin around so openly in the worst parts of town. But any normal rogue would have to give a second thought to attempting an mischief with someone like Helwyn, who's steely glare would let them know it was a bad idea.

But here in the seamstress' shop, she wasn't trying to be intimidating in the same way. her only goal was to be as much of a pain as she could be, but not so much that the seamstress would avoid giving this particular customer her personal attention. If she could do that for long enough, it would give the elf time to get Mir's drow out of town and to the pre-arranged meeting place. By the time the seamstress got rid of her unruly customer and got back to find her prize missing, it would be too late.

Helwyn suppressed her grin as she thought of the fits she was giving the good seamstress' patience. It was a shame that she couldn't actually get some new clothes. She'd seen the ones made for the drow, and she knew this seamstress provided quality clothing, but there was just no time.

Then again, maybe Mir wouldn't mind if she bought something ready-made....

 

[Annisthyrienne]

Mir listened to Myra's story with growing rage. His hands clenched into fists over and over, as he considered what she told him. He might have just been a braggart, but given what he knew of Spiriel there was really only one way he could have found that all out. "You don't have to do anything," Mir said to her quietly. "Just make sure he has plenty to drink." Mir scrounged around in the purse he had and place a pair of gold coins in Myra's hand. "Just say they're from a well wisher. Get him as drunk as you can without passing out then cut him off. I'll deal with the rest."

Mir stood up and gathered the few things he had remaining in the room, stuffing them in the small pack he had. "I'm leaving tonight. We're getting Spiriel and then Helwyn, me, and Spiriel are all heading north. Given the shit we've put up with here we won't be coming back through ever. I wish that wasn't true, I'd love to come back and visit you again, let you and Spiriel play, but after tonight if we show our faces here we'll likely be arrested. So unless you leave town, this is gonna be farewell," he finished and left. He walked downstairs and through the hall. He saw the guardsman sitting and drinking but he ignored him for the most part.

Fighting fair was something mercenaries learned to avoid early in their careers. With a lame leg even an unfair fight could get him in trouble, so Mir got Myra to get the guardsman nearly falling down drunk. He got his things on his horse and went back to wait in the shadows near the inn's entrance. In the firewood pile he found a log about a meter long and he waited. A bit later the guardsman he'd seen in the common room came staggering out.

Mir let him walk a bit down the street before sweeping up behind. The log shattered as he drove it into the small of the guard's back. Drunk and unaware of what was happening the blow dropped the man to his knees with a yelp. Mir brought the remains of the log around into the side of the guard's head and the man was stunned and laying face down at the entrance of an alley. The rugged mercenary grabbed the guard by his belt and drug him into the shadows of the alley. The drunk was sputtering as Mir rolled him over and dropped a knee into the center of the man's chest. Mir drew his dagger and grabbed the man's hair, shoving his head back to expose his throat. "You should have just kept your mouth shut about the drow," he snarled before he ripped the dagger across the man's throat until he felt the solid backing of his spine.

The man's eyes went wide as arteries, veins, and his windpipe were all severed. Mir pushed his head to the side so the spurts of thick blood splashed into the mud instead of on him and left his weight on the man's chest as he thrashed and gurgled, his brain dying from lack of oxygen even as his lungs filled with blood. The dank muck of the alley made little noise as he struggled but he was dead the moment Mir's dagger touched his throat, his body was just taking time to catch up with the reality.

When the guard's last breath decorated the side of a nearby barrel with a red mist, Mir took the man's shirttail and cleaned his dagger before getting up and moving as quickly as he could back to the horse. The guard had died in the shadows but he'd be found soon enough in the morning. If things went alright they'd have hours of a head start on leaving by then. Thinking better of it Mir went back and took the man's purse, emptying it's contents into his own before tossing it in the muck beside him. He relieved the guard of his dagger and sword as well hoping it might look like a robbery. He soon found his horse and got on before dumping the guard's weapons in a rain barrel and heading for the gate to leave town.

 

[Annisthyrienne]

Helwyn whistled a jaunty tune as she rode for the pre-arranged meeting place. She'd quite enjoyed her little performance back at the seamstress' shop, and the warm new cloak she pulled close around herself to ward off the evening's chill was just an added bonus. But best of all was the priceless look on the seamstress' face when she'd informed her after so many hours of taking up her time, that she didn't feel the quality was up to her usual standards.

Of course, considering Helwyn's usual standards dealt mostly with leathers and thick furs, it was highly unlikely that the seamstress' shop would ever have had anything that would have met the Northern woman's criteria. She smiled a satisfied smile as she admired her new cloak once again. Mir might be a little upset that she'd spent the money for it, especially since the funds came from the money she's made from selling the drow stuff. He would be wanting the rest of the money, certainly. But the way Helwyn saw things, she and Rothar had fought too, and the profit might well have been split three ways. Of course Rothgar was beyond need for money, and she'd trusted Mir to see to her mate's final arrangements. So even with a two way split, she could just claim she bought the new cloak out of her half.

Suddenly in the darkness up ahead, she spotted a man riding ahead on a horse that looked like Mir's stallion. The rider was slinking quietly along the street, guiding his mount to keep to the shadows. Helwyn's jovial mood dropped from her, and she wondered what reason Mir would have to be stealthy. For a moment, the face of the drunken guardsman crossed her mind's eye. She hurried her own mount along to catch up, towing Rothgar's horse behind.

When she'd nearly reached the mounted figure, she knew for certain it was Mir. She called out low and quiet, so as not to alarm or raise any suspicions. "Mir, the elf's plan seems to be going well so far. At least I played my part in it to perfection I thought." The self satisfied tone underlying her words was clear. But as she continued, her voice took on a concerned edge to it. "You don't look as though your night is going so well. Want to tell me what happened and why we're keeping to the shadows?"

 

[Annisthyrienne]

Althea paced nervously in the darkness of the old barn near the crossroads, casting another glance over her shoulder at the still form of the drow girl lying curled on the floor of the small carriage. Where could they be, she wondered. The whole situation was making her nervous, anxiety making every additional moment of waiting an agony.

She was tired after her struggle to move the dead weight of the drow's body out of the basement room, up the stairs, and outside to the carriage house of her mistress' estate. For the sake of simplicity, she'd left the drow bound as the seamstress had left her, hoping that it would keep her quiet in case she woke up from the sedative at some point during their escape. Better to keep her unable to start moving around, making noise and drawing attention.

Althea had thought to throw a couple blankets around the naked black body to ward off some of the chill of the night. As long as the drow remained unconscious, she wouldn't notice the cold anyway, and after all, it was not Althea's responsibility to see to the slave's comfort. Let Mir worry about that. She just had to deliver her to keep her end of the bargain.

There was no time wasted on getting the girl dressed either. Firstly she'd delivered the drow's clothing, including the original outfit, now repaired to it's original condition, to the Northerner woman. And although Althea had been tricked into being the clothes model around which the drow's clothing order had been designed, she'd be damned if she'd go so far as to lend the girl any of her own clothes. Mir might not like seeing his girl in that state, but Althea justifiably could say she only barely had time to get the girl out the way she was.

She sighed as she peeked out the slightly cracked-open barn door, looking once more down the road in the direction of town, hoping she'd see them coming. Where could they be? What could be keeping them?

 

[Annisthyrienne]

((Skyguy's post))

Mir half turned in his saddle when Helwyn called out to him. He noted her new cloak but just shook his head. "Later," he told her as he arrived at the gate. The guards paid them both little mind as they left but Mir wasn't stupid enough to think their passage hadn't been noted. Once out of the gate he kicked his horse up to a fast trot. As the town disappeared around a bend he pulled up along side Helwyn. "Myra came to me," he told her. "The drunken guard in the tavern, he was bragging about raping Spiriel. He knew things he could only have known if he'd seen her up close." He stopped, eating up another few hundred meters of road before he piped up again. "I had Myra get him roaring drunk and jumped him outside the inn. He's dead and I made it look like a robbery."

It had been a stupid impulsive thing to do. That much was unquestionable. It could cause them major problems if they figured out the guard's death wasn't a robbery. Yet, Mir regretted nothing about it. Even if the idiot had never laid a hand on Spiriel he was the kind of man who thought bragging about raping a defenseless girl would make him seem strong the world was better off without him.

It took another two hours but the cross road loomed ahead. He rode to them and pulled up the reigns on his horse, stopping where the roads met. In the middle of the night there was no one about and he scanned the area illuminated by moonlight. A small stand of trees, a barn surrounded by fields, and some muddy ditches were all there was to see. "If I was a stuck up, self righteous, bitchy little elf where would I be?" he wondered out loud.

 

[Annisthyrienne]

Helwyn lapsed into an uncomfortable silence at Mir's response. She knew that his terse mood spelled nothing good, but she had already learned to trust him. If he didn't want to tell her right away, there was a good reason for it. She waited in the tense quiet left in the place of her previously ebullient mood after her performance at the seamstress' shop and her purchase of her new cloak.

There were few things that could dampen the mood of a woman after a new clothing purchase, but when Mir finally reined in beside her to explain, his words left her chilled with mixed emotions. As he recounted the details of the guardsman's boasting, she felt her own anger boil up within her, and she simply listened grimly as Mir calmly stated that he'd murdered a city guardsman. They could probably never return to this town now, no matter what the future held for them. But honestly she could not blame him for doing the same thing she might have done in his place.

When he'd finished his explanation, she rode along beside him in silence, keeping her opinion of the matter in reserve and letting him wonder what she thought of him and what he'd done. After riding on for nearly another half hour, she said simply, "I thought that one would be trouble when I saw him earlier. But damn, Mir, I haven't even met this darkling slave girl of yours, and already she's costing me a lot of risk and trouble just by being associated with you." She let that sink as their horses clopped onward a few paces down the road, then the Northerner turned to the mercenary and looked him levelly in the eyes. "You know I'm not doing all this for her. I'm doing this for you. You'd better be worth it."

At the crossroad, Helwyn snorted in response to Mir's comment. His assessment of the stuck up little elf was spot on. "If I know her type at all, it will be in the most comfortable place available. Might want to look for an inn nearby." Yet even as she made her jest, she was guiding her horse in a slow sweeping circle, leading Rothgar's behind her, looking for any signs that someone might recently have passed this way.

Suddenly, her keen night vision spotted some turned up ruts in the mud that looked like they might be fresh. They led off to the barn nearby. She gestured to get Mir's attention and pointed to the old decrepit structure. "That would be my guess, and these ruts look like they might have been made by some carriage. The wheels look to be too thin for a farm wagon or ox cart. That's got to be the elf we're looking for."

Just as they both glanced at the old barn, a slight hint of movement in that direction caught their eye, and cast off any doubt. Someone was hiding there; someone not accustomed to hiding in barns.