What started with just him and Rolan had now developed into a table full of people. Most no doubt were attracted by the hareling’s rather generous sharing of drink. He seemed oblivious to the cost and gladly called for more anytime he saw an empty bottle. By now there was quite a crowd gathered around them. There were several dwarves and elves and even a few other wealthy humans who’d ended up joining them.
Aodh decided to stay out of yet another game of cards, in truth he had little interest in such games, and there were more than a few eager to join in with Rolan’s. He himself acted aloof, uncaring whether he won or lost, though Aodh noticed that whilst he lost far more than he won, when he did win it was for the larger pots.
More than his lack of interest in cards was his actual interest in the elf who had smiled at him on his way in. She and her friends had moved onto the table next to his, closest to the fire. There were others certainly, but she had been the one to capture his imagination.
To his mind, she was the classic elven beauty. Her long hair, golden with intricate threads reached down to her waist and shone fiercely in the light of the fire. Aodh had glimpsed her green eyes more than once over the night. The first time he had thought it perhaps wishful thinking, after the second he was convinced, by the third he had been confident enough to smile back.
He shuffled a little closer to her. While her friends were engaged in conversation she remained a little outside it.
“The heat does not bother you.”
She turned slowly, a wry smile on her face. “The heat? No, I like being close to the fire, it gives me comfort.”
Aodh pursed his lips, “You aren’t afraid of getting burnt? Nor the ash? It must be difficult to keep clean such a perfectly white dress.”
“I manage. And there are far more worthy things to be afraid of.”
“Like what?”
She turned to look at him. “Like humans. Especially ones with such strangely orange eyes.”
“Strange is not always so bad. After all, what would life be without a little of it? And besides, I fear you’ll just have to get used to those strange orange eyes. They seem to be rather drawn to you.”
“You are a rather well spoken human. I will need to be wary of you.”
Aodh smiled, “True, humans can be dangerous. Though not all. Some can be quite pleasant.”
“Can they? I have yet to see it.”
“The night is young.”
She laughed. Aodh made some space beside him, “Would you like a drink ... .ahh but I am not aware of your name, what is it I should call you?”
“Sarre.”
“Sarre? A pretty name. It suits you. Well then Sarre, would you like a drink?”
She looked at him for a moment before bobbing her head, “Why not. And what pray tell should I call you?”
“You may call me Aodh.”
A few of her friends stopped their talking to point out their friend as she moved across, she only gave a brief look before ignoring them and sitting down beside him.
“So, you live in famed Vies Diem, is it truly as glamorous a life as they say it is?”
Aodh almost spilled the beaker of wine as he poured, Rolan a little too eagerly knocking his elbow against him.
He brushed off a second even more obvious elbow from Rolan, clearly he was excited to see Aodh engage with Sarre.
“Well that would depend. Down here even Vies Diem is not always so glamorous. Not all Elves and Dwarves live equally.”
“No? Perhaps then you need a change of pace.”
“Perhaps.”
“You could come with me. For a price.”
“For a price,” Sarre frowned at him, “It should be you having to pay, to be in such company as mine.”
“Your company is worth a lot then?”
“You can’t tell?”
Aodh moved in closer, he shrugged, “I’m beginning to.”
She smiled at that, a nice smile.
Aodh brushed a hand against her thigh, “You have a nice smile, it goes well with the rest of you.”
“The rest of me?”
“Yes,” Aodh glanced down, “the rest of you. It has been something of a challenge to keep my eyes off you since I arrived here.”
“And your hands too clearly.” Sarre moved in a little closer to him.
“Yes, those too, though that’s less of a challenge and more of a necessity. Anywhere else now seems somehow uncomfortable.”
“A necessity,” Sarre rolled her eyes, “How romantic,”
Aodh smiled, “Do you want me to remove them then? Or maybe, just move them.”
She looked up at him, “You are quite forward.”
“I am.” He gave her a gentle squeeze, “I find forward is more often than not the best way to go. You’ll just have to follow.”
“Will I?” Sarre’s own hand went to his thigh.
“I believe you and I are-”
“Aodh. Here, you saw it. Come, come. This dwarf is cheating. The Bastard has cards sewn into his sleeve. You saw it right. Aodh.”
Aodh gritted his teeth as Rolan pulled on him.
“A moment,” Aodh passed Sarre her wine, turning he passed his face close to hers, her perfume making him even more angry at Rolan’s untimely interruption.
“How could I see it,” He hissed, “I was busy speaking with Sarre.”
Rolan seemed to not notice Aodh’s tone nor expression.
He jabbed his finger at the dwarf opposite him.
“This hairy half-form, a dwarf known as YOSAN…is a cheat and a fraud.”
With a great deal of dramatics Rolan got to his feet. As he stood up abruptly a card went flying from his lap onto the table.
“I…..” Rolan looked down slowly. “Ahhh I must have dropped it.” He looked around with a thin smile on his face.
“Ah… no actually. AHEM, PEOPLE HEAR ME. This gentledwarf is not a cheat nor a fraud. He is indeed a rather fine Socrat player. And…and he has a damn good beard to boot.”
Rolan got back down and placed a hand on the dwarf’s shoulder.
“A misunderstanding my friend. One which I hope to rectify with a bottle of…”
Yosan glared at Rolan, he had not blinked since being accused.
“A bottle of Uisce Beatha should do it.”
“A bottle of Uisce Beatha, coming right up my good dwarf.”
Aodh took a deep breath and turned back to Sarre.
“He’s a friend of yours then?”
Aodh shook his head, “I met him only this night. Though it appears he is a friend to everyone.”
“One as wealthy as him can afford to be.”
Aodh regarded Rolan closely, he leaned in close to Sarre, “The presence of a beastling does not bother you?”
She also glanced at Rolan, “Not me no. Though I know it does others. Makes little difference to me. I have other things to worry about.”
“Ah yes, such as handsome mercenaries.”
She scoffed, “There is such a thing?”
Aodh pressed his fingers to his eyelids, “Oh okay, I see what’s happened. Perhaps I should take your drink away, it seems you cannot even see what is sitting right in front of you.”
He pulled her in close to him. “I might even have to take you home.”
She laughed in his arms, she made no move to break free.
“Maybe you might. Though then again perhaps that is a little rushed. After all, we have just met.”
“True, you are right and wise Sarre. A true elf.” Aodh puffed out his chest, “there are steps we should take, perhaps this should be the first.”
Aodh placed a hand gently behind her neck and drew her in close. She smiled as he leaned in. Her lips had looked alluring from his first look. Their taste then did not disappoint. He kissed her for several moments before pulling away.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Sarre.”
She laughed, “As it is you Aodh. Maybe you are right, sometimes forward is best.”
“Come, the night is young, let us have another drink. Here, gather your angry looking friends. I’m sure they would like one. They drink Ambrosi, yes?”
“Ambrosi?” Sarre did not hide her surprise, “It is yours to give.”
“Yes,” Aodh saw no reason for it not to be. Rolan certainly was not afraid of sharing. “You will see I have a lot to give.” He kissed her again. “To some more than others.”
“Then I’m sure they would love to join.”
Aodh left her to bring in her friends. He turned and was shocked to find Rolan almost with his face pressed against him.
“The friends will join us?”
Aodh pulled back abruptly, “Yes,” he whispered, “so just relax okay.”
Rolan nodded and looked over at the ladies thoughtfully, “She has no dwarf friends then? Of the female variety.”
Aodh followed Rolan’s gaze, “Not that I can see, though the tables are rather big, could be they are just sitting dow-”
Aodh stopped and smiled as he noticed the dwarf Yosan glaring at him. It seemed he’d been glaring the entire time he’d sat down with them.
“Yosan was it,” Aodh reached out a hand.
The dwarf ignored it.
Rolan poured them all out another cup. “You must have female friends of your kind, Yosan. Get a few of them down here. We’ll make a night of it. A real night of it.”
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“A few? Both male and female you mean.”
“Well yes, I mean I’d prefer female only,” Rolan muttered, “But yes, yes bring them all down for all I care. We are having a bloody party, Yosan. Come on you lovely dwarf you. Time does not stop for anything, least of all for fun.”
Wordlessly Yosan got to his feet and without giving any indication whether he was for or against continuing he got up and left to approach a table of dwarves sitting at the opposite end of the tavern.
Rolan clapped his hands together, “HOHO, now we are talking.”
He grabbed Aodh by the shoulder and brought him in close, “Two beastlings partying in Vies Diem. How I wish that old bastard Alacrand could see me now. Drink Aodh, drink. Ahh and here are the elven ladies now.”
Rolan smiled and welcomed the ladies with a fresh bottle of Ambrosi.
Aodh took Sarre’s hand in his as she sat back down next to him.
“More wine? I like how the drink flushes your cheeks,”
Sarre pressed her hands to her face, “Is it bad?”
“Bad?” Aodh laughed, “No. It is not bad. It makes me want to have a similar effect on you.”
“You wish to make me blush?”
“Amongst other things I wish to do to you, yes.”
Sarre pulled away from him smiling, “You have a bold tongue.”
“Yes?” Aodh moved in for another kiss. Sarre really was lovely. Their kiss lasted longer this time. Finally they pulled away.
Aodh smiled at her, it was turning into a good night indeed.
“You see, the thing about Dwarven women….”
Aodh thought about intervening, but Rolan didn’t seem like one who could be sidetracked from such thoughts.
“Is that they are strong. Not just in a…you know… metaphorical sense, I mean strong. Able to carry a heavy load sort of way.”
“And you like that?”
One of Yosan’s female friends asked as they took their seat at the table. She seemed amused at the hareling’s outbursts.
“Like it? I bloody love it.” Rolan declared happily.
Yosan had proved good on bringing in friends to the party. All of the tables and indeed the entire tavern revolved around their own now. Yosan was responsible for at least seven dwarves joining them. To Rolan’s delight, of that ten three were made up of Dwarven women.
Aodh had his arm around Sarre’s shapely if delicate waist. Her friends had taken some time to warm to him, but the Ambrosi had helped, quite a lot in fact.
“You drink well Sarre, how many bottles have you put away already?”
“Ah,” Sarre slapped his hand away playfully, “Me? I am an elven lady. I merely sip. It’s you who has been downing drinks since we met. One might think I bore you with how much you’ve drank.”
“No, never that.” Aodh adopted a noble posture, “It is only that I feel nothing from the wine. For it is you that I’m drunk on.”
Sarre scoffed, “If you keep talking like that I will be forced to stop kissing you.”
“Then let’s stop talking and do something else.”
“Something else? And what might that be?” Sarre looked up at him, Aodh thought he’d been excited before but it paled to what he felt now.
“Yes, something….more private.” Aodh looked up towards the stairs, “I have a room here, though as it is my first night in a strange city I would be grateful to have a local and esteemed elf such as you to accompany me. I imagine I would sleep a great deal better with you alongside me.”
“Oh, you won’t sleep if I am alongside you.”
Aodh opened his mouth and eyes wide in mock shock, “I thought I was the forward one. I believe you are winning on that front. I’ll have to do something drastic then.”
Getting to his feet Aodh took Sarre’s hand in his and led her away from the table. She laughed following his lead. The sound of cheering broke out from Rolan behind him.
“Yohey, that is a fine man right there. Here, take the bottle with you.”
Aodh came back, it was always good to have a bottle just in case. Winking at Rolan he bid him goodnight. By now the dwarf female so amused by his antics was sat beside him. Both looked rather cosy in each other’s company. It seemed Rolan might get his wish.
He waited a moment as Sarre had a final word with her friends, one seemed rather annoyed with her for leaving.
“Shall we?” Aodh offered his arm when she turned away from them rather brusquely.
“Yes,” Sarre took his hand in hers and they headed upstairs together.
The room was small but nice.
“You know-”
Aodh interrupted Sarre with a kiss and spun her around. He smiled at her and stared into her eyes, so deep and green.
She wrapped her arms around him as Aodh lifted her into the air. Gently he placed her down on the bed. He kissed her again, moving down to her neck and all down her body. She really is beautiful.
The sound of her moans was all the encouragement he needed. He tore off his shirt and was greatly pleased to see her doing the same.
The sound of cheering came through to them from below. They ignored it. Aodh could imagine nothing distracting him from Sarre in that moment. Tonight, it was just him and her. He didn’t really need anything else.
It was the sound of shouting that woke him. In his rather drowsy state it was difficult to make out what was the cause of the disturbance. But it sounded like someone was angry.
Aodh placed his pillow against his head and sighed. Beside him, Sarre rolled over. Aodh admired the sight, he had seen few better on waking than her.
He smiled, “It seems someone is not pleased.”
Sarre groaned, “I know. He never is.”
Aodh smiled and pulled her in close. He frowned.
“Wait what? He never is? Who’s he.”
“Gren.”
“Gren? Who’s Gren.”
Sarre had already closed her eyes. “Oh, my husband.”
It took a moment for it to process. Aodh leapt back suddenly. He jolted awake.
“Your husband?” Aodh hissed, “I didn’t know you had a husband. Why didn’t you say?”
“Oh, you mean when you asked? Besides, would it really have stopped you?”
Aodh glared at her. Probably not was the answer.
“Of course it would have.”
She opened up one eye. “Really?”
Aodh wiped his hands across his eyes. He stopped and listened.
It was definitely a male voice. And he could make out some words now.
“Which room? Which room you stupid bastard? I know she’s up there.”
“Fuck.” Aodh jumped out of bed and stumbled to find his clothes, they lay scattered, mixed in with much of Sarre’s.
“You know what’s really annoying,” Sarre murmured as she lay still with her eyes closed in bed. “Last night he was down by the wench hold. With humans. Yet here he is now with the audacity to chastise me.”
Aodh stopped hopping for a moment. He looked at her confused, for all Sarre knew he was human. Was that why she slept with me?
Sarre paid no attention to him, turning back around she yawned. “I won’t get up yet. Thank you for last night though. It was fun. We should do it again.”
Aodh finally got his clothes on and began getting his armour and weapons. They at least were together.
“Again?” Aodh found a cup of water beside the bed, he drank from it greedily before throwing the last of it over her.
She howled awake. “What the Hells are you doing?”
“Go talk to him, distract him so I can get out.”
“Go…what? Are you mad, there’ll be no calming him now. You’ll just have to deal with it. He won’t kill you. He’s a city guard. It would be too big a scandal. He’ll probably try get you put in jail instead.”
“Deal with it?” Aodh looked around the room.
A city guard wishing disaster upon him was not what he had planned for Eis Diem. It definitely was not worth the trouble.
Suddenly he realised that the shouting had stopped. He listened. He heard footsteps on the stairs.
Aodh looked out the window, up on the third storey even for him it was a big drop. The sound of banging on the door forced the decision out of him. He really did not want to be seen by the city guard.
“Fuck,” Aodh swung himself out and latched onto the roof. He had one final glance back into the room.
Despite her apparent lack of care Sarre had been brought to her feet by the banging on the door. Aodh was glad to get one final look at her as the sheets slipped off her. He smiled, and was glad to see her smile back despite everything. It definitely was worth the trouble.
He launched himself up just as the door was knocked in.
“Ehh…YOU FILTHY HUMAN BASTARD.”
Aodh was hardly yet fully awake after a rather long night so it was without his usual agility that he staggered over the roofs. He chanced one quick look back and saw an angry elven face staring at him.
“YOU COWARD.”
Aodh turned to keep his focus ahead and leapt onto a neighbouring roof. He didn’t stop on landing but kept running. He had quite a sizeable head start, he wasn’t likely to be caught. Still it was best to be sure. He leapt over two more roofs before he finally felt confident enough to take another moment to look back. The elf was pursuing but was already too far back. Aodh breathed a little easier and went back to running, he had just found a way down onto a lower building when the first arrow whizzed past him. Aodh immediately sped up, even at a distance and with many obstacles now between them, it was an elf that was after him, anywhere within longbow range was not safe. Another arrow trailed past him to the right, ignoring it he readied himself for the final jump down and back onto the streets.
As he leapt however a third arrow came at him, it did not hit cleanly, but it grazed him all the same. A thin line of blood flashed across his face as he jumped. He landed a little awkwardly and took a moment to examine the damage. When he put his hand to his side a flow of blood came with it. The arrow had only barely slashed across his ribs, the cut was stinging but not life threatening. Aodh sighed with relief, another inch to the right and he would have been in real trouble.
Making his way down onto the street he bounded away confidently, as if he was supposed to have been up on the roofs. He pressed his hand to his side and stayed walking at a fast pace. He turned down one street, then another, and several more before he finally felt safe enough to stop properly.
He had not heard a roar of anger in quite some time. He took that as a sign that Sarre’s estranged husband had given up the chase. He certainly hoped so. Getting put into a cell in Vies Diem’s dungeon would have likely spelled the end to any hope of getting to Tralor in time, or indeed ever getting a contract of significance ever again.
Aodh lowered himself down onto a nearby wall and looked again at his wound. A few passersby offered up some rather curious looks at both his wound and dishevelled appearance but he only laughed them away.
“Stairs and a man far too drunk on good elven wine do not make for a good mix.”
He quickly cleaned and wrapped the wound as best he could. If he had not needed to rush his armour on then he’d of been fine.
Sarre is lucky to be so pretty, he thought, a single night with her had been enough to almost get him killed. Fixing his armour and straightening his appearance to the best of his ability he set off once more.
He’d decided to leave the city. It would have been nice to stay a few days longer. Sarre might have proved willing for another night, albeit another dangerous one Aodh knew he would probably have tried for it. And he was sad to leave without bidding farewell to Rolan. The hareling had been a worthy drinking companion, one filled with noise and entertainment. Aodh supposed he must have ended up with one of the dwarven females. He hoped one day he could return and speak with the odd Beastling again. He would certainly like to. Vies Diem had much to see, and more to do. Yet somehow he now felt the urge to continue on. Now more than ever. The more he thought on it the more it seemed better to get to Tralor as quickly as possible. Only there would he find out exactly what was in store for him. He was filled with a sort of anxious excitement at the prospect of his contract. Whatever it was he guessed it big.
He eventually found his way back to the main streets, it might have been that Sarre’s husband had got something of a look at his face, but it would have only been fleeting. And there had been little time for him to alert any of his fellow guards at the gate on Aodh and his transgressions.
As he joined in the already considerable early morning crowds passing out under the gate he adopted a nonchalant air. Thankfully he was permitted through without a second look. Just another mercenary heading out on another contract.
Aodh exhaled deeply as he left the city behind him, he’d only been there a night but it felt like a week. He wondered then on Tralor, if Vies Diem had caused so much chaos then what would the Vampirii city bring. Surprisingly, he could not wait to find out.