To her surprise, Zerra suddenly noticed the wizard sitting across from her and greeted her by name, “Oh, hi, Teven. I see you’ve met my friend Rilena.”
The two exchanged a quick hug without any compunction letting Rilena know these two were both unequivocally more veteran in visiting the communal baths. Zerra remained sitting next to her friend and began unfolding her wash cloth.
“Is that your special soap?” the falcon asked as her blue eyes spotted the bottle sitting on the stone floor next to Rilena’s shoulder.
“Of course,” the blond replied with her amused giggle. Passing the bottle to her friend, Rilena eased back to her side uneasily. “You look like you can use it. That trip to the mountain must have been awful,” Teven added looking troubled.
Standing up to show a faint scar on her side, Zerra stated with a sigh, “I picked up a new scar. It was far from just a trip to a mountain, and with the blizzard that would have been enough. A goblin nearly made me bleed out.”
Teven nodded noting the faint line that looked like it had been healing for years after originally being a minor cut. “Whichever healing wizard got to you in time, she did an excellent job. It’s hardly a mark.”
It was Zerra who laughed in turn, “He was a battle mage and apparently is a remarkable healer already.”
“A battle mage healed you? I didn’t know there were healers among you,” the blond wizard stated shaking her head incredulously.
Rilena nodded and added feeling like she should stand up for her corps, “He learned to heal from Sebastian Trillon, who is heading to the Winter’s Edge tournament to duel wizards in their own game. I think, even though we are weaker than you, Bas will teach a few wizards to respect battle mages more.”
Realizing that her comment had been taken wrongly, Teven started to get up to leave as she begged, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it. I have heard of your mage friend and know that he has surprised quite a few wizards already and not because they didn’t try to fight him as they would any other wizard either.
“I am just saying things as they have always been after all. No battle mage would have dared try a wizard’s duel before your friend. This change in the skills your people are suddenly learning, like healing of all things, is hard to keep up with for me. I would never intentionally insult a battle mage for trying to become greater than they have been.” Teven winced realizing that her words weren’t coming out as the apology she wanted.
Rilena thought that she was about to cry as the pretty, young wizard started to exit the pool. Zerra caught her wrist and shook her head. “It’s all right, Teven. Rilena is just in a bad mood because of the trip and our prisoner is setting her on edge.”
Nodding, feeling sorry for her misplaced antagonism, the dark haired falcon apologized as well, “Sorry, Teven, Zerra is probably right. The battles and weather were bad enough, but Garosh being here makes me even more agitated. I wish that I could have gone back to Falcon’s Keep, if only because of him.”
Teven glanced between the women and asked, “This prisoner is that bad?”
“There is too much to try and explain,” Rilena started.
“He tortured her and apprentice Nereith when they first found the fortress and were captured before being rescued,” Zerra said spilling just about every secret in her friend’s mind. “Now he is here and been harassing her subtly enough to avoid being caught.”
Teven slid through the water to sit beside Rilena and stared at her for a moment before giving her a hug, making the brunette even more uncomfortable much to the amusement of Zerra. “You poor thing,” the blond said compassionately. “No wonder you are on edge.”
Thanks to Zerra, Rilena spent the next half hour being doted upon by the wizard, much to her embarrassment. They spent time in the shallow communal pool talking more and, as much as the falcon wanted to hate the strange setting, the two women did manage to make her feel better.
When she retreated to the dressing room finally, Rilena found her fingers a bit pruned, but her spirits were buoyed by her friends’ attention. Unfortunately, when the young woman checked the clothes she planned on wearing, she found that she could smell them from a distance. Wrinkling her nose in distaste, Rilena borrowed one of the long robes used for the steam rooms and tied the belt. It was a short distance to the laundry and the girl hoped that they would tell her that everything could be cleaned before dinner. While there was no way she could go to the meal hall in nothing save the robe and her boots, she decided that the short trip to the laundry and back to her room would avoid drawing too much attention.
Rushing to the laundry, Rilena only had to pass the guard at the door along the way. The head woman of the laundry took pity on the girl as she could smell the odorous clothing easily. “Go on to your room, poor girl. We will make sure to get it back to you as quickly as we can. Even if I have to beg a water wizard to take the water from the material, I will find a way to have your other clothes to you before the dinner bells,” the graying matron declared before turning her around to send her off.
“Well, this is a surprise,” a boy’s voice greeted her as she turned around.
“Oh no,” Rilena breathed turning red with embarrassment.
Green eyes sparkled with mischief beneath a tousled mop of brown hair as Elzen eyed the girl in her white robe. His eyes strayed to the cloth belt tied at her waist keeping the remainder of the garment closed tight and secure. Even so, Rilena’s arms crossed her chest gripping her shoulders as she kept her eyes on the younger male. While he had always behaved over all, his antics did inspire worry over a prank at her cost.
“That robe does become you, but I have to say that belt is awfully tempting to pull,” he chuckled feigning grabbing it with his left hand while still holding his bag of clothing. Apparently Elzen had decided to get his clothing cleaned as well and picked this inopportune time to come to the laundry. Unfortunately for the boy who was teasing her, he turned enough to miss the angry woman behind him.
Grabbing hold of Elzen’s right ear in a death grip, the enraged washer woman hollered in his ear, “Leave that poor girl alone, you little pervert! She has had a hard enough time of it that she certainly doesn’t need you to add to her pain!”
“Yes, ma’am! Yes, ma’am! I was only teasing her. She’s a friend. Tell her Rilena before I lose my ear! That’s my favorite ear. I’m gonna need that,” the brown haired boy yelped somehow maintaining his sense of humor.
The girl nodded to the woman and said, “He’s an annoying friend. Can you give me a head start before letting him go?”
“Sure, sweet girl, you go on ahead and we’ll bring you your clothes this afternoon. Now as for you, little man...” the woman began to add a threat to Elzen’s life.
Rilena didn’t wait to see how he fared. The idiot had brought it on himself for acting like a pervert. She still wasn’t sure that he wasn’t, but then again all boys seemed to be to one extent or another.
Deciding to avoid anymore potential embarrassment, the falcon intoned the stealth spell and disappeared from sight. The trip was only slightly more difficult while using the spell, so she found her room without incident and hid inside.
Pulling off her boots, the girl slipped underneath the blankets on her bed. The robe was warm but even with the fires running throughout the castle, her room was a little cold. Winter in a castle was beyond normal heating and few bothered the wizards about magically adjusting it to a more comfortable level.
The only problem for Rilena, as she lay beneath the covers, was that she was a bit tired from the ride and had nothing to do. Without clothing, beyond the simple robe, there was nowhere she could go, save maybe the bath house again. Once settled in her bed, the days of sleeping on the cold hard ground and long rides caught up to her.
Unsure just how long she slept; the falcon blinked her eyes sleepily in response to a knock on her door.
Swinging her legs onto the stone floor made the girl wince at the cold beneath her feet, but it did hel
p to wake her more as she crossed the room to the door. Cautiously opening the wood door, Rilena spied a washer woman with a cart.
The older woman smiled at the girl peeking through the small gap and declared, “Mahildy sent me with your clothes, miss, as soon as they were dry. Would you like to have me bring them in for you?”
Nodding, the falcon opened the door wide and asked, “Do you need help?”
It had been a full bag that she had brought down to the washer room, but added up to only enough clothing to last a few days travels. The washer woman shook her head and smiled, “We folded them for you, but they still make an easy pile for one person.”
As she said, the older woman carried in three pants and shirts, two sweaters and some underclothes all in a single pile. Setting the pile of brown and black falcon uniforms on the dresser, the woman added, “I hope these aren’t all the clothes you own. You are such a pretty girl. I would hope that you would have a dress or two as well.”
Giving a sad shake of her head, Rilena replied, “No, that is pretty much all I have. Even this robe is borrowed. Being a falcon, I need to be able to pack light to travel at a moment’s notice. I don’t have the luxury of dresses.”
The woman looked disappointed and said as she exited the room, “Don’t waste your youth, dear girl. Get a nice dress or two and drive the young men wild while you still have your figure and beauty. If I had looked like you as a girl, I would have ruled this castle wearing the right dress.” Laughing at the thought, she left to push her cart leaving Rilena to watch her go before closing the door behind her.
“You know she’s probably right,” a male voice stated startling the mage. The scuff of a boot on the stone floor and creak of wood from the dresser drew the girl’s eyes in turn.
When Elzen released his stealth spell, he was sitting next to her clothing on the dresser with a big grin on his face. There was no apology on his face for earlier and, in fact, he seemed to be relishing the girl’s embarrassment and mortification at being caught off guard by the boyish falcon.
Her embarrassment was quelled quickly as Rilena smoothed her emotions to try and distract Elzen from her disadvantage. “What time is it? I fell asleep for awhile.”
Letting her put his amusement aside for a moment, the boy replied, “There’s an hour before dinner.”
He looked around the room, empty save for the bed, end table, dresser and a chair before commenting. “I can see why you would have no concept of time in here. At least the bed looks comfortable.”
Refusing to let him get under her skin, Rilena asked, “Why are you here, Elzen? This is the women’s wing. If you get caught here, you could get into some serious trouble.”
Waving off her concern nonchalantly, Elzen answered, “That’s why I used stealth and followed the washer woman to find you.”
“Did you think that you would watch me remove my robe and see me naked, you little pervert?” the woman asked aghast at his apparent audacity.
With a bemused smile as his fingers touched his lips contemplatively, he admitted, “Well, that would have been a plus, but I was more concerned with how you were doing actually. Admittedly catching you in just a robe earlier was an unexpected surprise. Sure it covers up all the important parts, but then again all clothing just keeps us a layer or so from being naked. It is the tied belt that I have to say does intrigue a boy’s mind,” Elzen finished with a chuckle pointing towards the belt bringing a blush to the young woman’s face and chest.
Refusing to let him win, Rilena pointed to the corner ordering, “Face the corner and no peeking or you won’t have to worry about getting caught by anyone else.”
Using the robe to prevent him from seeing anything that she didn’t want him to, and wondering why she didn’t just kick him out to prevent the risk, Rilena took a pair of panties stepping into the holes and pulling them up quickly enough that she was pretty sure he couldn’t have cheated a look. Her pants were next as the girl kept her eyes on the intruder. With little choice left, she turned her back to him taking off the robe before picking up a bra. As if on cue, Rilena could have sworn that she felt his eyes on her back, but soldiered on as she finished sliding on her shirt.
“Fine, you can turn around,” she said turning to see him obediently facing the wall as her eyes found him. Somehow Rilena doubted that he hadn’t found a moment to peek and for some reason found the idea more flattering than embarrassing.
As she sat on the bed pulling on a pair of warm stockings over feet that were becoming cold from touching the stone, the girl watched as he returned to the dresser to sit there. His eyes looked at the top of her pile of clothes before he flicked through with one finger as if judging her taste in apparel.
“You really are a pervert, aren’t you?” the girl said shaking her head before picking up a boot. It was close enough to dinner that she figured to dress and be ready to go to the main hall.
Wrinkling his mouth as if the words disgusted him, Elzen shook his head looking back to the girl as she sat on her bed pulling on the boot. “No, just curious about what you use to put together what we see. You’re slim, but have nice curves where they work best, so it’s a bit of a mystery even for someone with a healthy imagination. I find women interesting after all as a man, but since I have been a mage and been stuck in White Hall or castles training and we’re always separated from each other in these wings, I only get to do research occasionally.”
After nearly scoffing at his judgment of his officially being a man instead of a boy, Rilena managed to pick at a different word, “Research? Is that what you called it when you caused the girls at White Hall to run out of bath house from... what was it? A stink bomb or smoke?”
“Lizards actually,” he stated with a smirk. “I did get some research in that day, though my friend Sylvie nearly killed me for it later that day. She didn’t appreciate being one of the girls caught in the prank. Her legs are almost as nice as yours I think, though she didn’t have as full of a bosom back then.”
Groaning with annoyance even as he managed to make her blush again, Rilena complained, “Gah, Elzen, why do you always have to do that? Every time I think that I might like you when you act like a caring man, then you turn into this annoying little boy!”
His smile caused the girl to blink in surprise and, even more shocking; he simply let it run off of him with a simple shrug. “I have my moments. Being a boring, old adult who can’t have any fun isn’t what I plan to be anyway. If you want that kind of a man around you, I’m sure there will be enough of those to be found in the main hall tonight.”
Standing up from the dresser, Elzen offered her a hand up from the bed as he said, “Well, it’s probably close enough to dinner time that we can head down and find a couple seats.”
Rilena looked from his hand to the quiet smile on his face before allowing him to pull her up. His hand was very warm and for some reason she felt her face heat up as well.
Chapter 19- A Tentative Dance
When they walked through the women’s wing, Rilena was faintly surprised that Elzen had boldly walked beside her as an escort to the main hall. While men as a rule weren’t allowed in the wing unsupervised, in the presence of a woman it might be permissible. It wasn’t like she hadn’t heard of other falcons inviting a man back to her room before, but she had never been so bold to do so herself.
Thinking of those women, some of whom had been good friends, Rilena considered her own lack of love life almost forlornly. She had certainly kissed a few men and been propositioned by more, but the falcon had always put her duty to the corps first. Some of those falcons were no older than her and their mistakes had given them children already. It also meant most of those couldn’t currently work in the field and many no longer trained.
Rilena thought it was such a waste of promising cadets and falcons. With women who were talented dallying with men, instead of maintaining focus on their duty, the corps seemed to continually be holding back its potential. She guessed that many put family firs
t, and that was admirable, but there were also those who became afraid. Afraid to fight and risk their lives, those women actually looked for an out and having children was one such way.
Suddenly realizing where her mind had taken her, Rilena wondered why it had taken that path. Elzen walked beside her, but it wasn’t like they were like those couples or even truly a couple at all. They weren’t holding hands and making those disgusting lovey dovey eyes at each other that Rilena always found so annoying. Friends had disappeared into relationships without a backwards glance to the friends they came to ignore for some love of their life, which often ended horribly anyway. Then they came back wanting emotional support for their love war wounds.
She looked to Elzen’s hand and wondered if she had some of what held those girls’ hearts inside of her. Blushing as she looked away, the falcon grew angry at this continual strange set of feelings that seemed to follow being with him. Elzen was little more than a boy, no taller than she besides, and had never truly suggested he had the same feelings for her. Then again, he had made his way to her room, though whether from interest in her or just her naked body was still debatable.
Pushing away the annoying thoughts plaguing her as they entered the main hall where the noise of a fair crowd preceded walking through the door, Rilena took in the room cautiously. Men gathered in knots and seemed to be gauging the women who were no better. Several eyes found her and she began to feel a bit like a cow at auction. She had been to a few as a child and now knew what the cow might have felt like.
Elzen led her and once she realized that she had been led, the girl found that it had been easy to follow. First, she was a near stranger among these people, so having Elzen as one of her few friends, meant he might know more to introduce her. Second, it was conditioned from childhood that girls seemed to follow boys. Even though training in the schools as a battle mage helped strengthen a woman’s mind and resolve, there were still those old familiar traits they seemed to fall back on in life.
Battle Mage: The Dark Mage (Tales of Alus) Page 28