She stood strong and proud, the way she imagined a paladin should as she crossed the gambling floor. Her visage drew a great deal of attention from men and women alike but no one tried to stop her. No one had known what she'd done. No one tried to stop her; they stood in awe of her presence.
It was heady. It was insane. And it took everything she had not to burst into a run. She prowled towards the door. It opened for her and the doorman stepped aside to allow her entry. He already had her mantle slung over his arm. “Madam,” he said cordially.
Leslie swallowed. If there was any chance she'd be stopped, this was going to be it. She stepped into the chamber and the man stepped behind her, affixing her mantle over her shoulders and tying its ribbon neatly at her throat. The front door then opened on a bright afternoon full of hope and singing birds.
She allowed herself to smile. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure,” he said softly. “Enjoy your day, and congratulations on your winnings.”
Leslie peeked outside, there was no one around. “Ah, have you seen my friend?”
“Your friend?”
“Yes, uh. . . .tall brunette woman? Incredibly beautiful, very curvy? She didn't seem particularly thrilled with you?”
The man looked at her oddly. “I'm afraid not. You came alone, miss.”
“No I didn't. I came with Isir--. . . .with a friend. She was with me when I came in here. Remember? You two had some kind of friction.”
“I'm terribly sorry, but I would have remembered two exceptional beauties.”
“But-- but you're a cherub! She told me!”
His polite smile turned faintly cold and he clasped his hands behind his back. “You should probably take your winnings and leave, miss. . .”
“But--”
“The Holy Elisandra does not take well to thieves.” He said simply. “I may not be able to do anything to you, but there will be those who can.”
Leslie stared at him already feeling the blood drain from her face. “She was never here?”
“No.”
“I'm alone.”
“I wouldn't say that, you have Her touch about you.” He nodded to the necklace she was wearing. The bronze lotus was in full bloom, shining brightly in the muted light of the room. “If you say your goddess sent you here, I'm sure The Holy Elisandra and your goddess can decide what will become of you.”
Leslie took a deep breath, dampened her lips, and for the first time in what felt like an eternity she smiled. “Guess I should get my ass in gear, then.”
“That would probably be wise, yes.”
“Would you do me a favor? Let Aee know I--. . . .I really like him and I hope he's not upset.”
“I will.” The Cherub turned away. “Pleasant travels, miss Leslie.”
“You too--” she said to the closing door. She was alone? When had Isira left her? What about the music, or the dancing? The jokes?! Leslie stared at the door searching for clues she was missing-- somewhere she had to have gotten away from Isira, somewhere she'd been politely nudged to do things on her own. . .
But--
But, no. The more she thought about it, the more she realized no one had actually commented on the things Isira said, they'd not acknowledged the things She had done. The singing, the dancing? The room full of people praising Isira's name?
That couldn't have been her, could it?
Leslie looked to the sky warily. “What'd you do to me?”
Maybe that wasn't it, though. Maybe it wasn't about what had been done 'to' her but rather what she herself had chosen to do. Leslie had free choice. She had always had free choice. Maybe in her heart of hearts she had been expressing it the only way she knew how. Deities were known to take mortal forms, but never for one person.
Isira had given her the gift of sight again, She had bestowed powers upon her and then set Her new paladin off to sink or swim. In the process teaching her everything she needed to know about how to handle herself.
She had done in an evening what Leslie hadn't been able to do in five years of living in darkness. Isira had given her back her spirit and her life and while she would never be able to go back to a simple life-- especially not now that she was probably going to kick off some kind of holy conflict with her theft of the armor-- but she felt proud. She laughed all the way down the steps into the great unknown.
It was a good time to be alive.
# # # #
Hello there and thank you so much for reading this Dragon (S)Layers novella. I sincerely hope you've enjoyed this little romp into the DS world and maybe you'd like to check out some of the other stories set in it!
There are four 'early access' volumes on my website which I give away for free and update fairly regularly as I work on building a world of ancient gods, curious magic, and some risque fun. If you enjoy swords and sorcery epic fantasy with a slightly erotic bent to it, you might enjoy these other entries in the series:
Four Squared
City of Flames
In the Bush
Dereliction of Duty
All these and more are available on my website, http://tammysilverwolf.com where you can also join my mailing list, get more free books and keep up to date with my latest projects!
Again, thank you so much for reading this and please, do your fellow readers a favor and rate and comment. Positive or negative, every little bit helps when it comes to finding fiction you enjoy!
Dragon (S)Layers: The Paladin Gambit Page 13