Snakes and Ladders-20…part two.

I take a deep breath. This is strange for us, me not being able to see or feel something though the bond between us and I can tell its bothering Shaya too. I look over at her as she’s slipping into her armor and she has this sort of turning things over in her head expression.

“You can’t show me these things?”

“No, I swore a spell oath a form of secrecy magic.”

“Because….”

“Well…” she sort of smiles as she’s sliding some of her knives into her sheathes.

***

I looked up at him and it was really not the things that I had been expecting from all of the rumors and the stories of the thieves and such that I’d been raised on as a page and a squire. Even as a night there were sort of bandits mostly those too poor to do anything other than be desperate to try to take and to steal and rob.

But they were very much different that the actual thieves.

See there’s always been this rumor of thieves real thieves being from those sylvan children that were born with this streak of the dark fae in their blood, that they were different than regular people.

But here, I was seeing different as this leader of the thieves was pulling a Marahaesh made blade of pulled obsidian.

I had definitely been despite all my time and training as Illian scared. This man was a Marahaesh, or as you would say a dark elf and that was something was dangerous. See there are some of the different clans that are not treated well by any means. And if you do not have magical talents on Marahaesh then you are placed in the life of being a serf. Which is a polite way of saying slave. Those who do not wish to be serfs flee the moon of Marahaesh to the other moons and they are citizens of the crown and are given most of the very basest of protections.

The Marahaesh had become a third class of people in these other lands even lower that the peasants.

Yes, I suppose Wren they would be immigrant workers.

Okay…

So let’s just say that these people came with a very nasty reputation when it came to being thieves.

I had been raised on stories about how the “Inkies” being nasty and evil and willing to slit your throat for a copper.

Being recently female I had a whole new set of worries too.

I lashed out with a kick as soon as he cut me free. I’d be damned it he was going to do those things to me! Besides I had to get a weapon and deal with him…he knew who I was.

He took the first one to the chest and the next one there too and then his face and shoulder and he wasn’t striking me back or stabbing me…I groin kicked him and he caught that and his eyes flashed this moonlight blue…I’d not been expecting them to be so intense or so striking. I hadn’t really looked at the lesser people in my time as prince and knight enforcer to my uncle.

So…shimmering blue eyes on a man with jet black skin and jet black hair that was messy now and hanging in front of his face. I was so shocked by the contradiction of the things I knew versus the reality of the man that was there I stopped.

(Blushing at this point in RL.)

That’s when he took that foot I was going to strike him below the belt with and he did some Kyu-nari fighting trick and spun me from sitting up to face down and I felt the knife part my skirts and him move them aside exposing me to him.

Of course I started to scream and keep screaming right up until the first bare hand slapped across by buttocks.

Wren…

Wren it’s not that funny.

“Princess…I was going to be kind and cordial but if you’re not going to behave yourself…and act like a streetflower then I’ll show you what I do with unruly wenches that try to break a fellows stones without so much as a how do you do.”

I screamed and I’ll admit I wept and part of me raged at being unable to break him holds on me. I can fight but he was actually much better. From scared woman to wrathful princess to enraged but helpless prince to cowed and sniffling little girl who was suddenly realizing that I was the one that started this round of things.

I actually tried honesty. “I… (sniffle)…I thought you were going to rape and murder me.”

“Why in the name of the honnorless gods would I do that?”

“You’re a thief, and a darky.”

“Your parents would be shamed to hear you say that word.”

“I’m sorry it’s just…”

“It’s just you were raised out in the ivory tiled towers of Lyam the bastard. You’re a sniffer.”

“Sniffer?”

“Nose in the air…”

“I’m not….” I lowered my gaze and rubbed at my bottom, he didn’t pull those slaps.

“Yes you are but as much as you’ve changed girl you haven’t. You’re still relying a lot on the things the other sniffers told you and that was a pack of half truths and lies and some craftful coloring of things.”

I didn’t really have much to say… “I’ve been poaching you territory so what are you going to do with me?”

He got up and he took my hands and pulled me to my feet. “I’m going to have a coffee first, then I’ll figure out just what I’m going to do with the crown princess in my guild house. Come with me.”

I was nervous but I followed him through a few halls before coming out on this underside parlor…underside parlors were rare because the floating islands of Skywood can crumble, and the noble houses very rarely cut below a certain point and live higher in the tops while in some places the poor will carve their homes and such into the undersides.

I felt very nervous because under the floor here was nothing but a long, long fall but at the say time he had this almost ship captain’s quarters style of windows only longer like twenty feet of windows and the view was one that took my breath away…it was like flying.

The rest of the place was well kept and valuable, Shaelani finely woven carpets, fine porcelain from Kyu-nari and other treasures that were stolen and others that had been proscribed goods of course.

He made us coffee from Marahaesh which in the zones that things grow one of their major crops and trade items. The rest of the moon is a volcanic desert. He uses a spelled set of glassware to brew the coffee which is so deep and dark it looks like oil. Ground so fine it’s like powdered coffee then something that you’d brew like a tea and like the Ajani he left the grounds in the porcelain cups and mixed our coffees with a whisk.

I’ve never had a coffee like that before.

He rang a chime by pressing something I suppose or some other signal and he sat and stared at me while several people came in and made me even more nervous by taking seats and some bringing foods in.

I needn’t had worried about him raping me. There were several women there that were far more beautiful that me.

Yes wren there are women far more beautiful than me.

Yes I know that not to you there aren’t but how would you compare yourself to other women?

Sigh… I love you too beloved.

Anyway…

They were discussing me I think while they were eating it was bizarre all this talk about weights and measure and prices of tea in Kyu-nari and the air speed of swallows?

Wren…why are you laughing?

Sigh…

Then one of them says. “Oy, I’m thinking it might be best if we send her by ransom back to her family, she’s bound to be trouble.”

“No don’t do that, I need to be away from that place.”

He leans forward and looks at me. “There’s many here that would want you dead.”

“I know, but there just as many there that’ll want me just as dead for the wrongs that I’ve done but I need to be here I need to be one of you.”

A Shaelani woman spits on the floor. “You’ll never be one of us abomination, you are an affront to the gods. I f I had my way we’d be crossing blades now and your guts would be cooling in the air.”

I stared at her and the dark elf leader was staring at her too. “This is my court Priscilla you swore oaths to me.”

“I know that milord but they are an affront to the goddess using sorcery to take that form.”

“It’s my true form.”

“Liar!”

Well I’m not sure that she thought that I wouldn’t do anything but she ate the back of my hand pretty quick and before I knew what was happening the thieves leader was tossing my his obsidian dagger and Pricilla was coming at me with one of those long Shaelani daggers determined to use my like a round of spiced shwarma and cut strips off of me.

I won, and they were surprised and so was I. Thieves fight very differently that knights do.

I had literally to get on top of her and wrestle her down to the point of where I was going to break her arm very badly before she gave. I looked at all of them from where I was on top of her. “How much is my ransom? I’ll pay it.”

“And how will you get the money.”

“I’ll…I’ll steal it…I’ll thieve for you and you can keep the lion’s share of it until I’m paid off.”

“You’ll have to be a member of the guild for that and member of my court.”

“I can life with that.”

“You’d side with me over your family?”

“No, neither for if I swore to you as I am sworn to them I would have to find a balance between my two families….it’s why I’m doing this…family is everything.”

“Yes it is…you’re looking for your twin.”

“Yes before I can do anything I need to med things with him, he’s my twin.”

“Are you sure of this, our oaths are binding…for life.”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“Very well princess, I’m Bandit…”

After that it was a long while before he had me doing house jobs again. The rich had begun to hire magicians and mercenaries and there was a lot more security and paranoia over the robberies that I had done.

It was to the lower isles for me and working part time actually as a sword for Bandit against rivals that wanted to poach our realm and there where a lot of days and nights of training. I learned majik from some of the mage thieves and other skills as well.

***

“But there is a lot that I can’t go into from the oath spells Wren.”

I look at her and I wanted more but there’s so much I know she can’t tell anyone because of the promises that she made and yet that’s still sort of okay. Actually it’s sort of better than okay to me because honestly I know sort of about the Illian days but that wasn’t Shaya.

And Shaya is a princess even though she doesn’t have access to the title being a dragon rider. There was a bit of that I’m me and she’s a princess thing still there but knowing that she’s not so princessy squeaky clean makes her sort of more real to me and less of well OMG I’m with and Elfin princess thing.

I’ve always been good with the legally creative people even if I didn’t live in the life.

She smiles at me and we kiss.

“We should go.” She says.

“Okay.” We leave with all of our gear and head to meat the others. I’m not just nervous but I’m scared because this is very much like going on my first real combat mission. I look at her as we’re headed inside. “So did you ever get a chance to meet up and talk with Jaiden?”

“Yes but it was years and years later but we had ended up meeting on Ajania while doing a job.”

“So what was it like?”

“Loud and angry and dangerous…he drew steel on me and we fought like we hadn’t done since our squiring days.”

“He attacked you?”

“Oh yes, I was still his twin and despite being his sister that didn’t matter in settling the damage that I did to his honor.”

“Oh for fuck’s sakes that’s just like a guy to be hung up on honor.” I roll my eyes but she’s sort of looking ahead and the spells keep me from seeing the things that she’s seeing and the feelings are muted but she’s definitely remembering that and there’s a smile on her face.

“He was crying Wren, the whole thing had broken his heart and he was very upset that I couldn’t come out to him my twin of all people…the fighting was to show me too just how bad and how deeply that I had cut his soul and in a way it was him showing me how much that he loved me.”

I think about it and I get it. There’s been a few people that bear had to literally knock some sense into back home and this was kind of it…the swords and stuff was like him admitting to her that she was still his sister and his equal.

Yeah it’s a little screwed up but their elves, and they’re twins and twins are all sorts of messed up in their own little ways everywhere I guess.

“So now he’s sort of you fathers undercover agent in the guilds?”

“Yes sort of but Jaiden has his own oaths to keep with his own guild. He has people counting on him in a lot of ways and Father’s good with that, he’ll take any information that he can because…well like father told me.”

“Every thief and beggar and person in the realm deserves for me to try to make their world a better place…The King serves all of his people not a select few.”

I look at her and smile because I can see him in her a lot even though I really don’t know the man at all. “Too bad the politicians back home wouldn’t aspire to that kind of thinking.”

The Loremistress looks at us as we come in and smiles the sort of crooked impish kind of smile herself. “It’s too bad the same would not happen here as well Lady Erendae. We would not be here reading to go into battle when we should be living our lives and doing other things.”

I nod. “I can’t argue with that either I’d really rather not be doing this but I don’t thing the guy who wrecked my truck and rides a big assed three headed dragon’s going to back off and play nice or fair. So we just have to do what we have to do because if we don’t then he’s already won.”

She smiles and nods but some of the ones going with us are nodding too and there’s some clapping. I can’t help but to blush.

The Loremistress looks at all of us.

“Now let’s go over things one more time….”

***
I kissed Shaya and told her to be careful and kissed the big guys snout too and told him the same. They flew off and went to the village where the power place was and they were doing something majical.

I felt after a half and hour the wind shift towards the Darklands and there was the thump?
This sound in there buried of wing beats somewhere in the breaths of air.

The fog started in from the village think and low and it moved and flowed over the ground in strange ways I watched it keep going and fall over the edge of the cliff face and sink like it was alive? It fills the area as the hours pass up and over the tops of the trees…oh…you’d never see a flyer from the ground.

“Wow, weather control?”

“Skywood thieves majik, conjuring fog through temperature manipulation. Mind you Shaya’s in a power spot and she’s dragon boosted and Bhlaze is a Thunder dragon and weather majiks are part of his nature.”

“Oh cool, so Shaya herself could make?”

“Maybe a city block and some extra fog up, more if the conditions are right for fog anyway. Easy majik on Skywood.”

“Oh fog and clouds.”

“Yes indeed.”

The Loremistress and the rangers are using magic to look long ways off and she gets this look on her face like a sort of sneer like she smelled something bad.

“What?”

“He’s felt this and he’s working majik to counter it.”

“Shit, that’s not good can you stop him trying to stop Shaya?”

“Why would I want to do that? He’s too busy with that to feel us gating into that ridge we scouted.”

“Oh…but won’t he think we might do that?”

“Yes and he’ll likely tighten his defenses but he doesn’t dare take his senses off the dragon and rider.”

“So…”

“So, I’m going to make several gates in and he’ll have to spread things out to cover those flanks and then we have our secret weapon.”

“Secret Weapon?”

“Yes you.”

She get’s up and when she does there must have bee a signal and then she’s doing stuff with her hands and then she’s making gates…

They look like those little wormhole things from that show Sliders.

I see several different groups heading through them and then there’s just the one that I’m part of.

She smiles at me but doesn’t say anything as she draws her rapier and people are jumping through as quiet as they can…she gives me that Spock eyebrow thing the elves use a lot her, it’s gotta be a pointy eared thing.

I’m not sure why I’m taking a deep breath before jumping through but I do.

Whoa…