Love, Blood & Fury

by Melissa J Kincaid

  “Go away!” she called, glaring at her reflection as her magic veil shimmered into place, dulling her features once more.

  “Arii,” came a female voice. Arii moved to the door, flinging it open. There stood Nem, and the look in her eyes told Arii that her friend knew something was wrong. Entering the room, Nem’s stunning aqua eyes did not leave hers as she closed the door calmly behind her.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Arii growled in response to her words, pacing to the window as dull light of the coming morning filtered through, then over to the fireplace.

  Nem all the while watched her intently, silently. She was not the sort of person to force an answer, allowing her stoic silence to do the forcing for her. Much of the time it worked. Nemesis had an air about her that made secrets spill forth.

  Arii was not sure she could let this particular secret spill though, even to her best friend.

  “I just… I just need to get out of the castle, for a few hours.” She paced like a caged animal, a jungle cat eager to break free and run. She felt as if she were drowning, the air in the room was too hot. She could not get enough air into her lungs. Nem was beside her in a flash, gripping her hands and forcing her to stop and look at her.

  “Ariiaya, you do not have to tell me what is happening to you, nor what has you looking like you want to snap a few necks.” Her silver hair shimmered in the firelight. “But I could feel the magic pulsing from your room, and if I could feel it, who knows who else can.” She squeezed her hands firmly, then nodded resolutely. “Amberbourne. We will head to Amberbourne today. Perhaps a few pints of mead in the Tavern, and a little harmless brawl will let off some of your steam.” The woman’s head cocked to one side as she added, “Or perhaps a quick tumble in one of the taverns rooms with a young man, hmm?”

  Arii’s glare had Nem chuckling darkly.

  “How is it you know my mind better than I know it myself?” sighed Arii weakly.

  “Many years of suffering your company,” Nem smirked. “Come.”

  Arii did not need to be asked twice as the two women slipped from her rooms, as silent as shadows.

  ~~~

  As the morning’s dull light turned golden, Elijah was not at all surprised that Arii did not show for training. Their nearness the night before had taken him aback, left him shaken inside. Confused and feeling a desire he had never felt before, there was a burning deep in his soul like a spark had just been flicked into a pile of dry tinder.

  Sure, he had been with women before, quick flings to sate basic desires, but he had not seen any of them again, had not cared to.

  This woman was different.

  The way Arii Clearwater’s temper flared whenever he spoke to her, the stubborn set of her jaw and the way her lips spat words like acid in such an unladylike manner had his blood boiling. There was a fire burning in her dark eyes, a fire that never seemed to dull. She was guarded and harsh – quickly pulling upon insults and profanities when she was uncomfortable within a situation. And the way she danced the dance of death in battle had him pausing. The languid and flawless way she ended lives around her was almost poetic.

  In a way, she reminded him of himself.

  She had barriers around her that resembled his own. He was torn between the desire to kick her arse and kiss her.

  Just like they had been so close to doing last night.

  In the silver light of the library, when he had stared into the two surprisingly deep violet pools of her eyes, he saw vulnerability there, and a glimmer of pain.

  Along with a raging flame of desire.

  He had smelled it in the air, heard the thundering of her heart like a bird stuck in a cage. He had held back, but not for fear of her rejection - he could sense that was not an issue - but for fear of what one kiss could lead to.

  What one kiss could unleash within him.

  He knew how Lorch felt about her, it was evident in his friend’s eyes when he spoke about his saviour. He admired her, lusted for her, and Elijah was surprised he had not taken what he wanted already. He knew he would be the first to know. Lorch was not exactly secretive with him, he spewed his every thought like water from a fountain. It was not like his friend to hide things from him.

  He did not hide behind a cloak like Elijah did.

  Lorch knew more about Elijah than anyone else did, that was true, but Elijah could not bring himself to let his walls fall. He had been building them for years, brick by brick until he was surrounded by an impenetrable fortress.

  Arii Clearwater was a hair’s breadth from tearing it all down in one night.

  And Elijah Wolfe had been close to letting her.

  ~~~

  The inside of the tavern was loud, rowdy, and filled with the sounds of men laughing and cursing. The smell of unwashed bodies, tobacco and hot roasting meat was almost too much for Arii’s nose to handle. She needed this - this distraction from her own inner turmoil.

  Why hold back? What reason had she to hold anything back, really? She could bed both men. They were best friends, feelings may get hurt, that was if those men cared enough when all was said and done. Who was to say they felt anything above desire for her? Who was to say that was all she felt for them? Perhaps breaking the tension and tumbling with them both would erase the strange, confusing storm of emotions brewing within her.

  Arii touched the mug of mead to her lips and drank deeply, before gazing over the rim at her silver haired friend. Both women sat on a far table in the tavern, hooded and sitting in shadow. It was how they preferred to relax, a thin veil of magic making them inconspicuous to human eyes.

  Nem was staring at her intently.

  “Care now to tell me what’s eating your arse, Violet Assassin?”

  Arii placed her mug down, the amber liquid within sloshing close to the rim as she growled, “Fuck off.”

  Nem’s lips split in a slow, languid smirk. “There she is,” purred the Fury. “I thought for a little while you were lost to me and becoming… soft.”

  “Since when have I ever needed a reason to be pissed off, Nem?”

  “That is true.” Nem was silent for a moment, lifting her own mug to take a sip. Over Arii’s shoulder, Nem saw a group of men dressed in Red Guard uniform who were beginning to overtake the riot of sound in the tavern, their laughter loud and fierce. She saw their hands groping maids as they passed, more than once. The barkeep’s eyes were now landing on the group more often, his expression becoming dark. Nem assumed the young woman they were showing copious amount of attention could be the barkeep’s daughter, or wife.

  She hoped Arii had not noticed, her friend was not a fan of that sort of thing being forced upon a young woman in her presence. She had always been that way, making Nem think she had experienced something similarly unsavoury in her past. Nem knew more than most about Ariiaya Trillia, perhaps not as much as Krepth – but she was a close second.

  One thing Arii had always kept veiled was her emotions.

  The silver haired Fury knew that was thanks to years of intense training and brain washing by the Sisters of Fate – she too suppressed everything within herself.

  Arii had always been a closed book, a tome needing deciphering ever since they had met. The woman was the pure definition of a Fury, emotionless and seemingly soulless.

  Well, so Arii wanted everyone to believe.

  Nem knew that she was far more complex than she would have anyone discover. Whatever was eating at her friend would soon be revealed, she just needed to be patient.

  “Alright, I won’t press it, but you know you can talk to me, Arii.”

  “I know, but I don’t need to talk.”

  “Suit yourself.”

  The two women grew silent, drinking their mead and picking from their plate of cheese and finely sliced roast meat. Nem’s eyes flicked to the rowdy table
of soldiers often, surveying them before her eyes were back on Arii again. “Seen anyone you fancy?”

  Arii’s stomach coiled at the thought of sleeping with any of the patrons of this establishment.

  None of them had brown locks tinged with copper, or sun kissed olive skin and the lean body of a dancer.

  None of them were tall, dark haired and deadly with molten silver eyes and sporting a body honed for war.

  Gods she was in deep trouble.

  One of the men at the rowdy table spoke, and if it were not for their Fae heightened hearing, the two Furies would not have heard the conversation one man was having with another.

  “Jimmy said that his brother, Garvin, has not yet returned from Bonemire.”

  Mention of the fortress had Arii’s ears perking.

  “Mayhap he is still gettin’ trained? Heard the place has had a mass intake of recruits lately. Lots of supply wagons, too.”

  “Wonder what they’re preparing for? Ain’t been no proper action since the last night them Fae royals were killed in the castle.” One of the men snorted. “That boy King got the gig real easy, ey’? The last royal line killed in an unfortunate castle invasion. None left to take up the throne but the King’s Hand, Valdis Kruel.”

  “Thank the Gods that them Fae bastards have been wiped out. I heard the Fae fed their servants to their pet dragons.”

  “I heard their magic was so strong it made them mad!”

  “And it is said that it was their magic that created the filthy Shifters livin’ in the Evergrave Forest.”

  “Shifters are a myth, you sod!” crowed another man.

  “Nah ah! I seen one with me own eyes!” The man pointed a finger at his widened eyes, becoming all the more animated.

  “Your own eyes are hazy with drink ninety nine percent of the time!” shot another.

  “No, I’m serious! One moment there stood a woman then poof-” The man slammed down his mug, mead sloshing over the rim and splashing on the table. “-In her place stood a moon white fox!”

  A crash sounded, and Arii found herself peering over her shoulder at a man who now had the serving girl on his lap, her tray of beverages strewn across the floor. The girl had a thinning veil of disgust on her face which she was trying to hide, but failing. The group of guards hooted and slammed their mugs against the tabletops, and Nem could feel the temperature of the already stifling room beginning to rise. She almost hoped the men would let the girl go.

  “Come on now, little poppet, have you ever been with a guard of the royal army before?”

  Nem took the thought back. He deserved what was about to get handed to him.

  The girl squirmed, but that only spurred the man on. He grabbed her and tossed her onto the table, plates and mugs scattering as she screamed. The man pinned her with one hand, the other grabbed at the front of her blouse and was about to pull it open when a blade pressed between his legs.

  The man became very, very still.

  “Let her go, or I’ll ensure you won’t be able to show any more poppets what they’re missing,” hissed a voice behind him. The man inched his head to the cloaked figure, slowly raising his hands in surrender.

  The serving girl fled, but Arii was not concerned with where she went. Her nostrils flared, lips pulled back over her elongated canines as they glinted in the firelight. She wanted blood.

  “Who the fuck are you?” hissed the man, seeming to grow confidence even with a blade pressed against his genitals. Admirable, or perhaps just stupid. Arii’s head cocked like she was inspecting a dung beetle under her boot.

  “You can call me a cockblocker.”

  She slowly withdrew her dagger, and the man began to turn on her, the copious amount of liquor he had consumed leaving him seemingly untuned to how close to death he was.

  “Do you often proposition the ladies of the tavern like this?” Arii asked casually. The man’s expression began to twist as he realised it was a woman before him, as if the gentle lilt of her speech had not given her away.

  He grinned savagely. “Oh aye, you’d prefer me to proposition you?” Arii could feel Nem a few feet behind her and saw the other guards at the table beginning to rise.

  She licked her lips in anticipation.

  The tavern had become silent soon after Arii’s interference, and patrons began to slip out the door. It was as if they could feel the tension rising, the very air in the tavern becoming stifling.

  Swiftly sheathing her dagger, she lifted a hand and touched her finger to his chest, removing her hood with her free hand. When her face was revealed, the man’s expression twisted to delight.

  “Well, hello there, little lady!”

  Arii felt the tips of her fingers tingling, the hairs on her arms raising as adrenaline shivered through her veins.

  A movement caught the corner of her eye as one of the men from the table grabbed the lip of Nem’s hood, ripping it back from her head. Nem’s azure eyes were fixed on Arii, and the Fury did not need to scowl to show her displeasure, it hung in the very air around her. The man brushed back Nem’s silver hair, revealing her pointed ears.

  “Looks like she has a friend!” the man hollered.

  Arii’s gaze slid to the barkeep, and their eyes met. Sweat beaded his brow, and he gently placed down the glass he had been drying with a rag. He nodded ever so slightly in reply to Arii’s unspoken request, silently slipping away to the kitchens.

  Arii turned and paced to the tavern door, flicking the metal latch shut with a resolute click, locking the door.

  “I assume, by the way you have been handling the women in this humble establishment tonight, that you are unaware of how a lady should be treated.”

  Click, a second lock flicked down.

  The men were no longer laughing.

  “And I assume none, until now, have educated you in proper manners?”

  Click, a third lock.

  “What are you talkin’ about? No little purple eyed elf whore can tell me who I can and can’t grope or fuck!” barked the man, his tablemates mirroring similar looks of animosity on their faces.

  Arii pinched the bridge of her nose, as if she were speaking to a child. Slowly she lifted her head to stare at the men, lip curling in disgust. “Either you apologise to the young lady you groped earlier and pay the Innkeeper for your meals, or I’m going to paint this room a pretty new shade of red with your blood and entrails.”

  All of the men began to draw their weapons in unison, looks of outrage replacing confusion on their faces. To the sing of metal leaving sheaths, Arii turned to front the group, boots sliding to brace on the dirty floorboards as she drew her daggers. Across the room, Nem mirrored her action.

  “Suppose that means you need a lesson?” growled the assassin.

  The man drew his sword, a snarl ripping from his lips.

  “I’m gonna enjoy rutting your cooling corpse, elf bitch.”

  Arii’s lips curled in a slow, sardonic smile. With that, the man rushed her with a yell, and the room erupted into utter, bloody chaos.

  ~~~

  “So you see, my King, my family has not the coin to pay our taxes this month. The men, those who should be wearing the Kruel family crest with pride, instead wave it about like it is a substitute for payment.”

  A man was bowed before the dais in the throne room, head down as he spoke. His clothing was dirty, his boots having tracked mud on the immaculate marble floor. He looked like a gift left on the back doorstep by the resident housecat.

  Nearby, more townspeople knelt on the marble, all bowing low. Arii’s nose wrinkled as she stood guard by the door. The poor people were filthy, bruised and close to tears. The man’s voice cracked as he spoke, yet he lifted his head to stare at Lorch with determination as he sat on his throne.

  Today, the King was dressed in
a vermillion-coloured tunic, stitched with gold and pinned with his family crest on his breast. His gold crown glittered in the filtered morning light as it streamed in through the cathedral windows above. To one side stood his father, dressed in his usual royal garb, his mother a foot away on her usual seat, dressed in a beautiful green gown. It was simple yet elegant. Commander Hawke stood on the lower floor, having seen the small group of people into the throne room.

  As always, the shadow of Elijah lingered in close proximity to the King. Arii had not looked his way once since taking her post by the door, had hardly looked at Lorch either.

  Having blown off some steam in the tavern the night before, the brawl seemed to bring her mind back into focus. Doing what she did best and what was familiar stilled the turmoil in her mind, even if it was just for a few bloody, adrenaline filled minutes. The guards had not stood a chance, but they had tried their hardest.

  It was custom for the King to hear the grievances of the people every week, and after witnessing just a couple of these meetings now, Arii noticed a similarity in each wretched soul who stared up at the glittering throne. His people were starving, they were unable to pay the high taxes set by the Crown and there were more Kryvern now threatening their livestock, more often than not wiping out entire pens of animals, leaving nothing but blood and remains. That was not mentioning the townspeople the beasts were picking off. Some approached his dais completely heartbroken, claiming a son had been snatched away, not seen in months. Arii wondered if the Kryverns were not the only problem - thinking back on what the Water Nymph had said the night of the full moon.

  Perhaps someone was taking humans from the towns too, not just Nymphs from the lake.

  Lastly, Red Guard troops were causing trouble in their taverns, taking food and drink without paying, and mishandling their women.

  “That is unfortunate news to hear, Mr Spence. Please accept a waiver on your taxes for the month, to help ease the burden.”

  Valdis noticeably stiffened beside his son.

  “T-Thank you, Your Excellence, thank you.” With a bow, the man slowly rose and returned to his small group, exiting the room silently.