With nothing left keeping us there, we finished packing up the supplies for the day and started to make our way back to the inn. I didn’t plan on doing anything once we got there, maybe some maintenance on my clothes, but I needed a break. My pulse was causing my head to throb in time with my heartbeat. The stress of all this was really weighing on me now, this recent event had only just begun to make that apparent in a tangible way.
I couldn’t wait, it felt like I was suffocating, like I couldn’t get a full breath. I made an attempt to alleviate some of the pressure with a light massage of the temples with mild success. It at least gave me something to actively do while we were in transit.
The trip itself was uneventful at the very least, which I was thankful for. I didn’t know if I could handle another development at this point. The horses were unhooked and placed into the stables, the supplies were secured and covered to prevent weathering, and I was ready to lay down and take a nap. Just as I was ready to go inside, Kala walked up to me.
“Sir, may I accompany you inside? I could mend and clean your clothes for you.” She was still in character, which was probably the smart move to make. Never know who might be listening out here. Her question, though, made me consider for a moment. I didn’t want to make her do menial chores that I could easily complete, but at the same time it sounded very pleasant to not have to worry about that right now.
“Sure.” A simple reply, but it was all that was needed. She went to the cart and found amongst the supplies a needle and thread. We went inside once she had the tools she needed. Luckily it seemed that the innkeeper wasn’t present as we made our way through the main portion of the building. I wouldn’t need to explain why I was bloodied and why Kala was with me. Not to mention that interacting with people just felt like a chore at the moment.
When we got into the room Kala closed the door behind us and threw the privacy bolt. I didn’t really question that as it was probably something I would have done anyway. Kala turned to face me, holding out a hand. “May I have your shirt?”
I started to shimmy out of my top without a question. Once I had stripped, I handed over the slightly bloody clothes to Kala. She regarded them for a second before walking over and putting the shirt, and the repair tools, in a neat pile. That raised an eyebrow on me as I watched her calmly walk away from them to stand before me again.
“Lie down.” She said plainly.
Now I was really confused. “What? Why?”
“Lie down, on your belly.” She offered nothing else in terms of an explanation, just additional commands. I figured that she had something in mind and not just a pointless series of orders, so I elected to obey and see where she was going with this.
I lay down on the bed and got into a comfortable position. Kala for her part watched me do this until I had stopped fidgeting completely and was waiting to find out what she would do next. She walked up to the bed and proceeded to mount it on her knees. Just before I opened my mouth to ask her what she was planning, she swung one of her legs over my body to the other side, straddling me.
My face flushed a bit as I tried to twist and sit up. I was intercepted by her hand which pressed itself against the side of my head, pushing me back down. “Stay still, relax.”
I wasn’t sure I could do that, not while I was in this somewhat risqué situation. She was in control of it though, and I couldn’t get up without throwing her off of me. Defeated, I just slumped back down, trying to keep my heart rate from skyrocketing.
Seemingly satisfied with my obedience, she let go of my head. Now with her hands free, she placed them on the small of my back and pressed down with a considerable amount of force. The crackling sound that emanated from my spine was alarming at first, but then a sensation of catharsis spread from that point of my body.
I almost involuntarily took a deep relieving breath which was immediately forced out of me as Kala pressed down on my back in another location. Her palms dug into me, grinding my muscles and working out all the tense spots she could find. She managed to force many groans out of me during the first minute.
“Should we really- gah- be doing this? What if someone sees?”
“Who’s going to see? Besides, this isn’t so strange that you couldn’t explain it away.”
“What brought this on anyway.” Another loud crack from my spine dragged a groan out of me.
“I’ve been noticing you were getting tenser over the days we’ve been out here. Your posture has become very ridged compared to back at the camp. It reminded me of when I first met you. You seemed so on edge, always alert, always expecting something to happen. I was happy when you finally started to relax, and seeing you revert after making that progress worries me. You were practically a stone after that fight.”
“Yeah, I guess it all has been wearing on me. I was planning on finding a way to relax for a while before you presented this idea.”
“I’m glad you were trying to take care of yourself but let me take care of you right now.” She wasn’t going to hear an argument from me. Frankly this was a hundred times better than a nap, and I was already starting to feel rejuvenated.
She worked her magic all over my upper body, achieving a result that all the healing in the world couldn’t have accomplished. I felt immense relief, and exhaustion, as now that the tension was gone my body was free to complain about the working conditions. It was hard to stay awake, but Kala had a solution to that as well, as she suddenly dropped completely on top of me.
Her head nuzzled right into the side of mine while her arms snaked their way between my chest and the bed. It felt like a century since the last time I was able to be this physically intimate with her, and I missed it more than I realized. Neither of us said anything for a few minutes, simply relishing the moment of calm in each other's company. I could feel her heart as it beat gently against my back, and I could scarcely think of a better feeling than this.
She eventually stopped the nuzzling as her mouth came to a rest just by my ear. “I love you.”
Such simple words flowed as smoothly as a river and made my heart soar. It brought a smile to my face that I didn’t know if she could see, so instead, I brought my hand up and rested it on the side of her face in a gentle caress. “I love you too.”
She nuzzled into me once more at my words before settling in and resting with me in her embrace. I would have loved nothing more than to fall asleep like this without a care in the world, but unfortunately, said world wouldn’t let me rest so easily given our situation. All good things must come to an end, so it was with reluctance that Kala had to get off me.
We both sat up, and the first thing that struck me was just how loose I felt. I felt like my body could just flow in any direction I felt like. Doing some experimental stretching, I caught Kala with a highly amused look on her face. She deserved some props, so I gave them to her. “I thought I was the one with the magic powers in this relationship. You’ve been holding out on me.”
She laughed a bit. “A woman has to have a few secrets, otherwise there would be nothing for you to learn. Besides, I think I owe you a massage after all the ones you’ve given me.” She went over and collected my shirt and the sewing tools she discarded before. “I’ll get these cleaned up for you, just relax for a little while longer.”
“I didn’t even know you knew how to sew clothes.” That didn’t really strike me as a skill that Trelnval would cultivate, considering their propensity towards walking around essentially nude.
“You tend to learn a lot of things like this when in the service of another.”
“Ahh, right.” A little bit of a sour note to end things on, but the warmth from our personal time together still outweighed it quite a bit. Kala left to do all the repair work on my clothes, flashing me a smile before disappearing behind the door.
I let out a sigh, feeling relieved of a weight I didn’t even realize was being piled upon me. With nothing else to do, I figured I might as well take her suggestion and relax a little more, a prospect that seemed much more doable after having some intimate connections. Laying down on my bed again, I closed my eyes and made an attempt for a nap. I dozed for a while before my mind began to drift away into nothingness.
Much to my enjoyment, it didn’t seem like I was asleep for long enough to have dreams of any significance. When I opened my eyes, I was met with the fading light of outside streaming through the cracks in the shutters. It must have been sundown, meaning I had been out for at least a few hours. I got up, feeling surprisingly amazing. It felt like I had slept for a century.
I found that my clothes were next to my bed, folded in a neat pile. When I touched them after picking them up, I found that they had been scrubbed clean. None of the dirt, blood, or other contaminants were marring the fabric. I eagerly slipped them on, reveling in the freshness.
It’s amazing how simple something like clean clothes can have an impact on your mental well-being. I felt like a million bucks, rested, rejuvenated, and ready for anything. I actually needed to reign in my optimism for once and bring it back to an acceptable level. Fuck, I love you so much Kala.
The woman has literally inspired me to take on a castle. Not one to fall short of her expectations, I prepared myself for a night on the town. There were three bars of interest out there, meaning it was time for a pub crawl to get a feel for them and see if there were any interesting characters that frequented the locations.
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I made a quick stop by the shack to check up on everyone and let them know what I would be doing. Our three new members had apparently been caught up on the situation and now knew where they stood. The Droln seemed to be rather excited by the developments, the Valus on the other hand was nervous, not sure what to make of it or what to do. The kid probably couldn’t imagine any scenario in which he wasn’t forced to serve the Thrainians.
Silia, however, was unhappy with all this. She didn’t like that Kala was putting herself in danger, and I couldn’t help but agree on some level, though didn’t voice my opinion. Kala was having none of that, saying that she would fight and that there was nothing that her mother could do or say that would convince her otherwise. They were both a lot like one another, stubborn and unrelenting when it came to the things they cared about. But even through all the arguing I could still tell that they loved one another.
I put an end to the bickering before it got out of hand, much to the annoyance of the both of them. Still, they knew they didn’t have the luxury of being able to fight like that right now. With everyone now calm enough to maintain their disguise, I received one last round of good lucks from those who cared enough to give them and made my way towards the nearest bar.
On the way there I was considering different methods of getting into drinking groups and exchanging stories. I needed to make note of any interesting characters there as well. If I could catch a captain with a drinking problem, or locate that drunk slave guard, I would consider that to be valuable information.
After a few minutes I found myself standing in front of the first bar. Even out here I could hear the muffled clamorous noises from inside. A quick fortifying breath and I was ready to go. I approached and opened the door with a creak of well used wood.
Immediately I was hit by a wave of noise, stale alcohol, and what could only be described as distilled testosterone. Laughter, shouting, cursing, banging, if it wasn’t for my current situation, I would have assumed this was one hell of a party. Cautiously, I entered the establishment fully, letting the door close behind me.
Just at a quick glance, I spotted a large group surrounding an arm-wrestling competition, they were among the loudest, another group singing songs in the corner in a half drunken manner, and there appeared to be a group out back of the building. The ones out back I saw through an open door on the opposite side of the room, and they appeared to have formed a ring around two men who were in the midst of a bareknuckle boxing match.
As I walked deeper into the chaos, I caught one of the soldiers off to my side doing a literal double take. He then knuckle slapped his buddy behind him on the arm rather hard while locking eyes with me. “Hey! It's the merchant I was telling you guys about!”
That got the rest of the table's attention. “Him? He looks a little too fancy to do what you described.”
“I swear it’s him. Hey! Come over here, have a seat. I’ll buy you a drink.” I didn’t really expect an invitation as soon as I walked in, but it was an opportunity, so I took it. Once I was seated, the man who invited me raised an arm and shouted over the crowd for another pint before turning his attention back to me. “I gotta say, I watched your duel earlier today. You’re a mean bastard ain’t ya?” He said this with a smile and a laugh on his lips. He looked middle aged, slight stubble on his face and had a head of short cut brown hair.
I decided to play along with the line of questioning. “I just don’t take too kindly to arrogance and disrespect.”
“Ha! If that’s what you do to someone who disrespects you, then I'd be scared to see what you do to someone you hate.”
His friend leaned forward to speak to me directly. “I heard you flattened his face out, that true?”
I shrugged. “He wouldn’t surrender when he was clearly beaten, so I had to force the matter.”
“Why not just kill him? It was a duel to the death, right?”
Saying that killing people gives me nightmares probably wouldn’t win me any points right now. So, I made up a different excuse. “Death doesn’t cure stupidity; it only immortalizes it. By living he can learn from his mistakes, and hopefully become a better person.”
“You sound kind of like my drill instructor.” He replied with a chuckle. “But, I wouldn’t count on him learning any lessons from that. From what I hear, he’s actively trying to look for anything wrong with you, probably trying to leverage his family name and the law against you. If you have any secrets, I'd recommend keeping them that way, and you’ll probably want to keep your nose clean for a while.”
“That is sound advice, thank you.” Just then I felt the hairs on my neck prickle a bit. I looked around for a moment before I found the source of the feeling. A group that was sitting at another table was giving me very hostile looks. The man who invited me noticed where I was looking and waved my attention away from them.
“Don’t mind them. They’re just sour about your duel; think you didn’t fight fair. But you know what I say?” He cupped his hand around his mouth to project his voice towards the glaring table. “Fuck them, it was a duel to the death! You pull out all the stops for that.” One at the table held up their pinky and wiggled it slightly, which I assumed was an insult of some kind. “You and your wife both know that ain’t true!”
“Fuck off, Folten!” The angry man was done with the conversation now and turned away with a huff. The one now known as Folten just laughed and went back to his drink. Speaking of, mine arrived shortly after as a barmaid dropped a pint of beer on the table in front of me before quickly scampering off to continue her work.
It was very hoppy, not exactly a drink that I would normally indulge in, but it wasn’t terrible at least. “So...” Folten drew my attention away from the drink. “Where did you learn how to fight like that? You had form, but you aren’t dedicated to it solely, which speaks of either experience or a teacher with experience.”
Alright, think fast, need a story. “Uhm, well, my grandfather was a soldier before retiring and starting a business. He passed on what he knew of swordplay to my father who then passed it on to me. I’m not perfect, but I know enough to defend myself if need be.”
“Knowing how to use a sword is an important skill to have. Your family has a good tradition.” Well, at least I passed that check decently enough. Maybe I could roll with it some more.
I went off my ‘family history’ and started asking questions about his job, claiming to be curious about the life of a soldier. Turns out he was usually on gate duty, so he gets to see a lot of the people who end up coming and going. I got him talking about some of those people, seeing if any interesting names or occupations would pop up. He talked about some of his friends in the patrol or slaver teams, some of the people he didn’t care about and were generally rude, but none of them seemed to be of any consequence.
Swing and a miss on that one, but there were other ways of getting the information I wanted. “Yes, I've recently had the displeasure of conversing with a rather rotund man who reeked of alcohol, Yulvin, if I recall his name correctly. He works in the slave pits. You happen to know him?” A fabricated story, but one that probably wouldn’t be questioned.
“Aye, I don’t much care for the man either. Honestly, don’t know how he hasn’t been shipped off somewhere else yet, but I suppose Lord Kirthwain must play politics just like everyone else.”
“He doesn’t frequent this place, does he? Hate to have my drink spoiled.”
He waved his hand in front of his face. “Nah, he wouldn’t be caught dead with this rowdy lot of miscreants. I hear he’s partial to the place two streets down and one right, quieter, but still a good spot for a drink and some games if you got money burning a hole in your pocket.”
That was some useful information, I knew where to find the weak link now. If I could exploit him for some keys to the slave pits, that would probably make it easier to stage a breakout. We continued to talk for a little while longer, mostly inane things for the purpose of not appearing to be rude or attempting to escape from them.
While I drank and made idle conversation, I made sure to look around the bar for anyone else who might be worth talking to. However, this place didn’t exactly attract the type of crowd beyond your everyday soldier. There were a few people that seemed to be officers of some sort, but no one that screamed ‘I have access to a bunch of restricted areas’.
So, I opted to finish my drink and excuse myself from the group. I thanked them for the pint and the conversation but said that I had also been recommended another bar and I wanted to see it before I became too drunk to even walk. Folten took it well and offered a handshake.
“A pleasure talking to you, Arkin. I hope that our little gathering hole here didn’t scare you away. We’re loud, proud, and here to have fun. You’re always welcome back whenever you want.”
There was a pang in my heart as my chest felt like it was twisting into knots. He seemed like a good man, honest with himself and others. I truly hoped that if it came down to a siege that he would survive. I'm not cut out to be spy. I had come to the realization that this kind of work required a level of detachment that I just wasn’t capable of. It seemed like you would either have to be born, or made, into a sociopath to do this job.
I just gave a small smile and a nod before turning to leave. There was a little relief once I was outside and the lively noises from the bar were fading away into the background. The crisp night air was bracing and allowed me an opportunity to get my thoughts in order again. I just needed to do visit a few more bars for a little while and then I could head back to the inn for the night.
The plan for tackling each of these other bars was the same as the first one really. Get in, get people talking, get out. I would have one, maybe two drinks depending on if I was learning anything useful, and then politely excuse myself.
I found that each of these bars was somewhat different from the last. One of them had a more quiet, reserved atmosphere where people talked with one another like it was a social gathering and not a house party. This one had a lot of the higher-ranking individuals, and I endeavored to make myself as amiable as possible to this crowd to get as much good will as possible.
The next bar after that was the gambling one that I had heard about. Tables were set up to host a variety of games, all of which the rules were foreign to me. Some involved dice, others cards, and even a few seemed to combine the two into a weird amalgam. I spied Yulvin, who was indeed a rather fat lout of a man, gambling at a card table several drinks in if the bleary eyes were any indication. It wasn’t like he was unfit exactly though. He still had thick arms that held a fair amount of muscle to them, but the beer belly was just extremely prominent.
My eyes gravitated towards his hip, which held a keyring attached to a belt loop. It was extremely tempting to try and take it from him, but I decided that confirming his location would be enough for tonight. Until we were ready to make a move, I wouldn’t attempt to get anything out of him, not to mention it would be difficult to remove those keys without him noticing me tugging on his hip.
I felt like it had been a productive night thus far. Nothing game changing, but word about my duel had apparently spread fast amongst the members of the guard, which allowed me to become acquainted with a number of them. The more connected I was, the more likely I would be allowed to enter an area that would normally be off limits after all.
As I stood up to leave a group that I had been conversing with, I ended up stumbling a little bit. Oh shit, I think I've had more to drink than I thought. A natural consequence of every conversation being had over a mug of beer or cup of wine. It would probably be a bad idea to continue questioning people while I myself was getting drunk. Slip ups even while everyone was in a state of stupor could very well be deadly.
Taking the little victories while I still had them, I called it a night. I was a little unsteady on my feet as I walked down the road back towards the inn. Others who had had their fill for the night were also making their way home around me, some in better or worse condition than I was. Once back in the inn, I collapsed onto the bed, lazily kicking off my shoes and my pants but kept the shirt as I drifted off to sleep. Man, I hope I don’t have a hangover in the morning. That was the last thought in my mind before alcohol and exhaustion claimed my consciousness, sending me off to sleep.