The Diary of the Exile: Chapter 4 ~ Truth in your Lies

[Jared]

It was amazing to see her battle the sullen demons. There was something, intangible but most definitely present, with women and swords that Jared found incredibly attractive. The way her muscles flexed as she moved with clinical precision, her eyes spewing fire, her brow painted with resolve and her hair following every motion fluidly... It was all so captivating that the exile almost enjoyed observing how she traded her moves for the death of her foes. She was a Valkyrie alright, both bonny and baneful. No wonder only the greatest warriors earned the honor to be taken away to the hallowed halls by one of her kind.

In all his Bryn-induced veneration, Jared completely disregarded the numbers. And the numbers were clearly stating that there were three more beasts out there that his beloved didn’t tranquilize with her blade. One of them reminded him of that, charging at him with such fleetness that the dour beast didn’t even manage to snap its foreboding jaws at the exile. Instead the black hound simply swept Jared from his feet, striking his knees from behind and throwing the illuminated man once again into the dirt. His hand dropped the staff, his chest and face striking the sand in sync as the beast regained its footing and circled around the come for another charge. By the time the man managed to roll over to his back, the second beast burst out of the bushes with a serious intention to bite Jared’s face off.

His hand burrowed through the dirt, trying to reach the staff, his eyes focused on the approaching beast and the doom that it brought, and just as the dark behemoth was to leap on his chest, Jared snapped his foot, kicking the beast sideways. His hand finally reached the glowing staff, but even it did, he had to put it to work because the wolf that attacked him first was back and flanking the man. The wooden weapon swept sideways, knocking the beast away, giving Jared just enough time to regain his footing. And then the third beast came. Its leap collided with the exile’s back, the massive claws making a triple gash across the entire length of his back as he once again found himself on the cold soil. The laceration on his back was exploding with pain, but he couldn’t afford more then a groan before he quickly sprung back to his feet, his staff still in his hands.

The three animals refused to give him a breather though, instantly charging again from three different sides. And yet all that Jared did was crouch and wait, as if he made peace with his own death. However, just as all three beasts were to collide with his figure, the exile pushed with his feet, propelling his body backwards. The two beasts that charged from the opposite sides struck each other fiercely, instantly evaporating as the third one leapt over them and at the exile. The man and the beast clashed in mid air, Jared placing his staff into the mouth of the beast as their joined bulky crashed into the water with an abundant splash. The claws instinctively scratched at Jared, lashing over his forearms, his thighs, his sides, one of them even across his face as the man held the beast submerged. Finally, after what seemed like an hour of twitching and scratching and growling, the dark beast went calm and then simply disappeared, leaving Jared in a pool of his own blood.

“Summons.” Jared spat bitterly in an extremely weary tone as he trudged through the water, dragging his staff behind himself. “Who the hell would send summons after us?” he muttered as he approached Bryn and sat beside her standing figure with a painful grunt. He discarded his staff and the item instantly stopped glowing, allowing the man to rest both his body that pulsated with pain from pretty much every extremity and his mind that used up a lot of his willpower in the battle. He would need at least a couple of minutes of rest in order to be able to heal his own wounds. His head shifted upwards, gazing at the angelic face of the war goddess. “You alright?” he asked with a mild smile that was forced through the grin of pain and agony. “I swear, that was the worse wake up call I ever had.”

[The Valkyrie]

The last of the beasts had fallen, taking Jared with it. It twitched and spasmed, with Jared beneath it. And then came the silence. That dreadful silence that makes one want to scream just so that it will go away. A silence which seemed to Bryn would last forever. The surface of the water grew still and smooth, and she stood there staring down at it, seeing nothing but her reflection. She should have damned her armor and fought without it - it was her fault he was gone. And as she fell to her knees in the sand at the bloody shore of the pool, Jared burst forth, sending her backward with a choked scream.

He was bleeding badly, his flesh torn deeply in places, and it took her several moments of staring at him blankly before she could answer him. Finally, she found her breath, her voice, and spoke, her words sounding loud after the overwhelming silence.

"I'm fine," she whispered at first, but finally crawled closer to him, and dipping her hand into the water in the pool beside them began to clean his wounds while she found the courage to speak louder, "Not even a scratch on me thanks to you, but look what I've let happen to you. You've been cut up, and on top of that there's sand in your wounds."

Matter of factly she reached across the sand to the bloody mess of gauze and linen that had been their bed, found some that was reasonably clean and soaked it in the water. Pulling his clothing away from the wounds she began to probe them gently, picking grains of sugar-like sand from the gashes, calmly ignoring his gasps of pain.

"Unless we want to chance anymore of those creatures, I think we'd best be on our way. I don't think I could sleep anymore tonight anyways," she added, finishing the wounds on his side and back and focusing on one of his arms.

Looking away from her work for a moment, she glanced around, half expecting the horses to be long gone, but they were slowly wandering back, their eyes rolling white still in the gray light of what would become predawn. Jared's staff did not glow anymore, but the silver hue at the horizon which leeched the light from the stars was enough to see by.

She decided to leave the wounds open for the air to heal, hoping this was the proper way to treat them, but not sure. Maybe now that they were clean, Jared could heal himself. At least she hoped so - she made a poor nurse. Carefully, she gathered the remainder of their things and began packing them away, finding what was left of the garment on loan from Kalahad's younger sister and throwing it over her head and shoulders. Even soaked in blood it was better than nothing, and when the sun rose - which it would all too soon - she knew she'd be happy of it.

Extending a hand to Jared, Bryn pulled him to his feet at her side. Impulsively, she threw her arms around him, clinging to him and fighting back a sob. She'd thought she'd lost him once more, and the feeling of incompletion had been almost more than she could bear. Taking a breath, she smiled at him, her eyes glistening in the early light - although it could have been hope that glinted there instead.

[Jared]

He didn’t mind the perpetual sting of his lacerations as her gentle hands worked on them. For every explosion of pain there was a sliver of her suave touch and he focused on those caresses, allowing them to take him through the ordeal. On top of that, her voice was there, worrisome, protective, almost apologetic because she was the one that got out of this strife unscathed. It made the exile smile, or at least attempt to do so, because every time he tried to curl his lips into a smirk, it was interrupted with a suppression of a painful hiss. But the fact of the matter was that there was no pain the he wouldn’t endure as long as none of it found its way to her. His hand covered her own and paused its cleaning motion over his forearm as she looked up towards her starry eyes.

“That was the point, you know? To get you out of harms way.” he spoke gently, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze before he allowed her to finish the cleansing process. “Besides, it’s not your fault that I’m still a novice with the staff.” he added in a more relaxed manner, trying to make her to lighten up and forget about his wounds.

It seemed to fail utterly though, since even as she helped him up, her hands embraced him tightly, the Valkyrie clutching to him desperately and affectionately, burying her face into his shoulder. And even though her clutch irritated some of his wounds substantially, Jared’s face and demeanor didn’t show it. Instead his hand found its way to her golden hair, slowly caressing the endless curls as he held her close, leaning his head onto her own. It was moments like these that effaced all the doubts from his head, these random sentimental expressions of affection that spoke of the true feelings within them, and there wasn’t pain strong enough to diminish their resplendency.

“Don’t worry. It will take more then a fistful of summons for you to get rid of me.” he tried to ease her mind once again. As if to confirm that, he closed his eyes and bent all his focus to his healing spell and after a couple of seconds their joint bodies were engulfed by a shimmering green light that warmed them both with its lustrous viridity. Instantly most of his wounds started to close until they were a mere shallow scar that was bound to disappear within the next couple of days. The only one that didn’t heal fully was the gash on his back, but the spell managed to close it and form a scab over its entire length. He moved away from her slightly, enough for her to see the effects of his spell. His face, once again ravishingly young and perky, smiled down on her.

“See? Now neither of us has a scratch.” he said before he lowered his head and planted a lengthy kiss on her lips. If all words failed, he hoped that this would ail her mind of the dour thoughts. When he finally broke the intimate caress, he moved away just enough to look into her green eyes. “But you’re right, we should get moving as soon as possible. Those beasts were summoned and whoever is behind this will have a harder time to conjure them in our vicinity if we are on the move.”

He broke away from her hands with reluctance in her heart; he surely wouldn’t mind spending a day or two in this oasis with nothing but the Valkyrie in his hands. But mind triumphed over the heart at this point and he moved away from her, gathering his attire and swiftly donning it. His undershirt, scale armor, boots and ultimately his argent robes were thrown over his athletic figure and soon he took his spot on Abran’s back with the barrel once again between his legs. The night above them failed to resist the oncoming day, rapidly lessening in the darkness of its hue just above the line of the eastern horizon. The air around them was rather nippy, but Jared know that in a matter of minutes after the ascend of the sun, the sand will heat up and emanate that dastardly heat that would follow them through the rest of the day. But with the roads being practically invisible during the night and with the darkness erasing any orientation point (unless one could navigate by the stars which neither Bryn not Jared could), traveling by day was their only option.

So they rode. The beasts below them once again tireless and as fleet as the wind, cutting through the heat and the sand like a tip of a sharp saber. The heat was once again unbearable, the accumulated sweat prodding on the scab on Jared’s back throughout the entire day, making the man feel every minute last twice as long. Needless to say, the flight to Irakkam was a miserable journey indeed.

[The Valkyrie]

Bryn was puzzled. No one had been sent ahead to announce their coming, and neither she nor Jared had ever been to Fallien before. They'd only been in Irrakam long enough to get their release from the Outlander's Quarter. And yet somehow Jya had known they were coming, and they were escorted immediately to the Keep in the northern part of the city immediately upon their arrival. They'd barely stepped foot off of the ferry across the river to the island, when they were met by a petite woman in dark veils. Her eyes were smiling though, big as saucers and dark as the desert night, and she greeted them with a deep curtsey.

"My lady, Jya, welcomes you and invites you to the Keep. Your horses will be taken to her stables if you will follow me," she said in a quiet voice, speaking directly to Bryn. Casting a quick glance at Jared, she looked to the priestess.

"We'd be honored," she agreed, following the woman from the pier in the Outlander's Quarter.

It had taken most of the morning to make their way through the city, a bustling bright place, with merchants hawking their wares in the street. It seemed every building was dripping with blooming flowers, and every crossroads held a rippling fountain. The buildings were all whitewashed, and cool passageways led through shadows into gated courtyards where people dined quietly.

The Keep was stunning though, its great bronze gates opening before the tiny priestess, who led them inside silently. A great fountain graced the grassy courtyard, its rippling water flowing from an urn tipped forward by a statue of a nude woman. Here were more flowers than before, fuschias and orchids overflowing from hanging baskets off of the eaves of all the buildings in the complex. She ushered them into the largest of the buildings, and left them standing in the shaded hall. The air was cool and moist here, a welcome change from the stifling dry heat outside.

Two more priestesses came out, and curtsied deeply to the two once more, their eyes sparkling happily. The first stepped toward Bryn, her lavender robes hissing as she moved.

"My lady asks that we make you comfortable before you are presented to her, if you would follow us, we will see that this happens," the girl, who couldn't be more than 15, said softly. The second, who was quite a bit older, and probably close to middle age, stepped toward Jared. She wore robes of saffron, and her hair was pulled back from her face in a loose braid.

"Please follow me, sir," the elder said, motioning to a hallway to her left.

The other nodded to Bryn to follow, and although reluctant, she squeezed Jared's hand and allowed herself to be seperated from him. The priestess took her down a hallway ahead, and into a large room in which a tub was sunk into the floor. It smelled of jasmine and ginger, and its shaded coolness lent an almost somnolent feeling to the room.

Stepping behind Bryn, the priestess wordlessly began to unfasten the armor, setting it gently on a nearby table, each piece gaining a moment of her attention as she seemed to inspect it.

"What should I call you?" Bryn asked the priestess, realizing that she did not even know this girl who was going to bathe her. She pulled the linen shift over her head, and stepped down into the water which was just warm enough to be comfortable, but cool enough to be refreshing.

"I'm called Ulia here," she answered as she knelt beside the tub and began to pour out various soaps and oils, bathing Bryn carefully. It was awkward, but relaxing, and seemed to be a ritual the girl was used to performing. Bryn sighed and allowed herself to relax, the roughness of the sponge, and the smoothness of the oils complimenting each other.

When she was clean and her hair washed, Ulia helped Bryn to step from the tub, drying her in a great soft towel that could have swallowed the Valkyrie whole. Then she began dressing the warrior in clothes that were much more feminine than anything Bryn was used to.

Ulia led Bryn through the hallways once more, and up a flight of stairs to an open airy room, which was much brighter than the others, although just as cool. Here a beautiful young woman lounged on a sofa, her robes a mixture of red and white, brilliant against her terra cotta skin and raven hair. She looked up at Bryn with a smile, and then glanced over to where Jared sat on a nearby sofa.

Bryn had been dressed in a tunica of palest jade, bound at the waist with a belt of darker green. Over her shoulders was laid a creamy white palla, of lightest linen, Her hair had been swept up into a twist which allowed her golden curls to cascade down over one shoulder, and tiny white flowers starred her hair. With a smile, she curtsied to the Jya and crossed to join Jared.

[Jared]

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, lady!” Jared spoke in an utter astonishment, his right hand holding for the buckle of his pants and his left mimicking to the woman in the yellowish robes that nearly took his pants off to move away. When she took of his robes, he considered it a mere act of courtesy. When she helped him take off his scale armor, he was mildly disquieted, but decided to play along. But when she reached for his crotch and started to undo his pants, the exile jumped back as if struck by an arrow. The woman, a gallant dame in her late thirties, simply looked at him with a confused expression, her large hazel eyes asking the question instead of her mouth. “Look, I thank you for your courtesy and your welcome, but this is getting a bit too intimate for my taste.” he continued, making sure his gray pants are pulled up high enough.

The woman merely folded her hands before her chest and spoke in a tranquil manner. “It is only customary for us to give the royal guests a bath, my lord. I do not understand what kind of intimacy are you implying to.” And she spoke it with such placidity that it nearly made Jared think that it’s a perfectly normal thing to be bathed by a complete stranger in a completely strange land.

“Implying?! I’m not implying anything. You... You went for my pants!” his voice, though rather silent, was starting to become frenetic, but the chamber maiden’s face was unfazed by his theatrics.

“Does the lord want to have a bath with his pants on?” again spoken in a perfect businesslike tone that started to vex the exile.

“No. But I can both take them off and take a bath by myself.” Jared retorted, no hostility in his voice, but rather just discomfort with the current situation.

“And I don’t doubt the lord’s ability to maintain his hygiene. But it is my job to rid the lord of the burden at least on this occasion. It is our symbol or heartily welcome, nothing more, my lord.” she explained, her tone still endlessly kind and calm. The exile wasn’t terribly ensured by it, still keeping his distance from the woman and her deft hands. “Would the lord be more at peace if I blurred the water and turn my back until he step in?” she finally gave an option that Jared remotely liked.

“Actually, he would. That is if it’s not too much of a trouble.” the man responded, this time his voice a bit more serene as the woman wordlessly made her way to the bath and poured a brownish liquid into the clear water. And even as she ran her hand through the clarity of the liquid, it started to become more and more murky until it the bath looked as if it was filled with hot caramel. With woman turning her back subtly, Jared reluctantly made his way out of his attire and slipped into the demure coolness of the bath.

He wasn’t completely comfortable with the hands of somebody other then Bryn passing over his body, but soon after the strange woman poured some oils that carried the scent of pine trees and something he couldn’t decipher (he could have sword there was a touch of cinnamon though), he felt his strained muscles starting to give in and relax. And before long his mind was recollecting on the weird occurrences that seemed to follow them on every step in Fallien. The queer barrier conjured by the final piece of the armor, the summons, the welcoming committee that escorted them to none other then the ruler of the realm, the servant woman that wanted to take his clothes off... It was too much in such short amount of time. He wished Bryn was there, right there with him in the tub and that the woman was gone. He loved the way her body glimmered, her perfectly clear skin all wet and glorious, her hair damp and instigating him to touch it, to touch her and make love to her until...

He suddenly snapped out of the thought, barring it out of his mind as his eyes shot open. With a pair of strange hands rummaging over his body, such thoughts could produce rather... interesting effects and there was no way he wanted for this peculiar situation to become ever weirder. Luckily for him, the chamber maiden was just about done and she left his side, leaving him a large towel and waiting for him to dry up with a fresh set of clothes.

Once he dried up, got fully clothed and his hair attended by the woman, Jared, who usually didn’t have too high of an opinion of his exterior, thought he looked pretty damn good. His hair was neatly combed and sprayed with some sort of an ointment that made it calm and constantly damp without sticking it to his skull. His attire was royal and ironed, his black pants tucked into his shined leather boots with countless brass straps. The shirt was made out of dark green sifan with buttons decorated with golden carvings. On his shoulders were twin clasps with Fallien insignia that held a velvety dark gray cape descending down his back and reaching just below his knees. On top of that, everything carried a fresh masculine scent of perfume and generally made a person feel at least a touch better then usual.

However, the exalted sensation was diminished once he was led to Jya’s chambers, because the woman was breathtakingly beautiful. She was stretched on a lounge, her relaxed position not ridding her of her dominant demeanor that flared out of her eyes. Her hair seemed entwined with darkness, falling over her robes like a sullen river. Jared swung his cloak over his shoulder, giving the woman a deep bow before her hand motioned him nonchalantly towards a comfy sofa.

But just as Jared was about to speak, in walked the most gorgeous creature he ever laid his eyes on. Wrapped in a light viridian tunic that clung to her body perfectly, with an ivory mantle gently falling over her suave shoulders, with her hair descending down the side of her angelic visage like an outbreak of liquid amber sprayed with modest flowers, Bryn outshined Jya with remarkable ease. Her jade eyes were glimmering, her beauty amplified and displayed in a proper womanly manner in her new clothing. Not that he really minded much about clothing. He loved the Valkyrie regardless of the attire, but he just couldn’t deny the fact that only now she shone in her true beauty. This was the first time he saw Brynhilde in truly womanly clothing and it nearly shattered his mind. She was like a piece of candy in an ornate wrapping; he admired the sugarcoating but craved for what was beneath it. Oh, yes, how he desired for what was beneath it. Despite being in a room with a ruler of the land in which they were mere visitors, Bryn captured his mind in such a manner that he stood hypnotized for nearly a minute. Only when she made her way to his side he managed to close his mouth and get up abruptly as a sign of courtesy for female presence. He took her soft smooth hand ever so gently, planting a kiss on it before they both sat down.

“Bryn, you look... just amazing, simply amazing.” he blurted out, his compliment crude and simple and not at all what he wanted to say. He wanted to tell her just how gorgeous she was, how stunning, how splendorous, but such was her enchantment that he barely managed to find those few simple words.

[The Valkyrie]

Her hand flew to her hair, self-consciously, the style she'd argued with Ulia about the entire time the girl was decorating it. A blush colored her golden cheeks, burning her skin, and she smiled rather shyly as she took her seat by Jared, avoiding his rather pointed gaze while he kissed her hand. He'd always seemed to find her attractive, but she couldn't remember ever making him stupid.

Trying to push aside her discomfort, she turned to face Jya, who was watching indulgently, like a mother watching her only child on a first date. Jya smiled gently, and arranged her robes, her eyes fluttering around the airy room before settling back on Bryn.

"We are pleased to have a Valkyrie among us, and we welcome you both warmly," the woman said formally, but then seemed to relax a bit, "But I hear you've a bit of trouble to speak of."

"We're honored to be here," Bryn murmured, stunned that the woman knew she was a Valkyrie at all, "Unfortunately, we aren't here for a visit, but for more serious reasons."

"You can relax Brynhilde, you aren't among gods here," Jya smiled benignly, "What are the Essekers and Deklans fighting about now?" she continued picking up a cup of something and bringing it to her lips. Even as she did so, she motioned for another priestess to give refreshments to the pair. The drink was cool and fruity, tasting of lemons and some other citrus fruits. It was accompanied by a light pastry enveloping a delicately seasoned meat which sated one's hunger marvelously. Although a bit distraught by Jya's comment about the gods, she smiled and continued.

"Well, we went there to find the last piece of Yarina's armor. And Kalahad, the Esseker chief has the boots, and is using them to keep peace between his tribe and the Deklans. There has apparently been a change of power to the son of the Deklan matriarch, and he has begun instigating fights over water and fertile land," Bryn explained, trying not to leave anything out.

"Ahh, yes, the armor you must have to rescue your fallen warrior - Eryk is his name I believe," Jya sighed, not noticing Bryn's gasp at this revelation of knowledge - how did she know everything about the girl? "But those two tribes shouldn't be fighting. They signed a treaty hundreds of years ago, and then again they made a pact enforcing marriage between the tribes every 40 years. They are breaking their oaths to each other and to me by fighting."

The wise woman frowned, nibbling at one of the pastries, her fingers drumming a beat on the arm of the sofa. The tattoo between her brows creased, as she seemed to drill her mind for solutions.

"You'll have to go as my emissary and enforce the treaty," Jya said with finality, as though that were the only option. She looked up at Bryn and then Jared and smiled "You'll stay here for a few days of course, rest and get prepared for the return journey you know. Would you prefer to room together or seperately?"

[Jared]

With Bryn’s luscious appearance constantly luring his azure eyes and the dominant comportment of Jya governing the room solemnly, Jared felt rather befuddled and insignificant. He could hear the words spoken, but none of his eloquence found it appropriate to retort. It seemed that the women had issues under control, but given the matriarchal structure of the Fallien society, that didn’t come as too much of a surprise. Fallien women seemed different somehow, more resolved, more pragmatic, as if each and every one of them was a Valkyrie once upon a time. Needless to say, for a man, that was an impact to both his pride and the tranquility of his mind. It took some time to get used to the fact that the men were not the ones wearing the proverbial pants in these parts. On top of all that, Jya seemed to have insight in some of the more private aspects of their life, so much so that if the exile wasn’t still under the beauty spell, he would find it rather disquieting.

However, once their palaver received a closure with the question of the lodgings for the night, Jared felt that the matters were left rather unresolved. Well that, and he felt that if Jya needed to ask that final question, she wasn’t a particularly good oracle. But out of the two emotions that perturbed him at the time, he opted to address the former one first, regardless of how much some of his other body parts wanted to address the latter.

“My lady Jya.” he spoke respectfully, his tongue slowly returning with a vengeance, bringing his eloquence in tow. The woman gave heed to him with a rather formal, almost annoyed set of eyes, her lips curled into a minute courteous smile. “If you don’t mind me saying, but while there is indeed no bad peace, I don’t think that just a peace treaty would properly resolve this matter. While it would douse the tensions for a while, in the long run it’s only the matter of time before the bickering restarts.” with each word his certainty and courage grew and soon he was speaking with his usual grandeur that borderlined with royal. “The wisest course of action would be...”

“...to give both what they desire. Is that what you wanted to say, Jared?” Jya cut him short, her butting in into his sentence coming so incredibly natural and fluent that the exile nearly felt it was his mouth that pronounced the end of the statement. “Each of them has something that the other needs and the only compromise is to either take from both or give to both. While taking could teach them a valuable lesson, Suravani’s Oasis is far too important for Fallien. That is why I summoned my best irrigation and agricultural advisors that will accompany you on your journey back to the Oasis. They are not diplomats, however, while the two of you certainly seem silver-tongued enough to fit the role.” She spoke all of this with endless patience, although the patronizing motherly voice was striking mild annoyance in Jared. Nobody liked a wiseass. “Is that what you wanted to say, Jared?” she concluded with a mysterious smile and a twinkle in her incisive eyes.

“Yes, my lady.” he responded with a bow of his head, her intelligence and wisdom covering all the loopholes.

“Well then, that leaves us with the question of your lodging.” she added in a substantially more relaxed, almost jovial manner, her hand subtly nearing the cup to her rosy lips as she took a sip. Jared looked at her kind smile and fought the blush that was hitting his cheeks.

“Khm, well, we wouldn’t want to be too much of a burden, so a single room will do, my lady.” the exile smoothed his way out of the embarrassing situation, though who exactly did he tried to fool was an obscure question. It didn’t take a prophet to see which way that decision would go, regardless of how subtly it was sugarcoated and phrased. But Jya merely smirked tenderly and nodded her head. Her hand clapped weakly, but despite the sapless motion another chamber maiden, dressed like the two that led Bryn and Jared to their bathing “ordeals”, entered the room from behind a scarlet curtain. “Mina, take them to the Room of the Dusk and make sure they are comfortable.” and turning to the pair she spread her hands and added. “Rest, rejuvenate for you will need the strength for your journey back.”

Excusing themselves from her presence with a deep grateful bow, the pair exited the marvelous sunlit room and followed Mina through the ornate halls once again. Away from the hawk-like eyes of Jya, Jared allowed his own to scud to Bryn as they walked, unable to resist the temptation any longer. And every time they were struck with awe as he glanced at the woman at his side. “I think that went rather well.” he spoke, trying to start just some random conversation to kill the uneasy silence and the perpetual clicking of their boots on the polished marble.

However, soon then veered around a corner and Mina introduced them to their lodging. The word room certainly failed to accommodate the place that opened up before them. The living quarters were not so dissimilar to the one where they palavered with Jya, if a bit less enlightened. The woodwork of the sofas and the chairs was extraordinary, polished to perfection and glimmering in the tawny smoothness together with the golden details etched into it. To the left stood massive mahogany doors that probably led to bedchambers and to the right was a set of glass windows and doors that led to the balcony that overlooked the river. Mina faded away, excusing herself with a soft mousy voice, leaving just the pair to marvel what was probably the best damn room they got on their entire journey.

But marveling the room was not what was on Jared’s mind right now. He had another piece of art that by far surpassed all the ornaments that the keep could conjure. He approached the Valkyrie slowly, close enough for his arms to wrap themselves around her delicate figure as gently as if she was a ceramic doll that would break if clutched too tightly. “By the gods, Bryn. You look so beautiful. Not that you usually don't look gorgeous, but this new outfit... It really makes you shine. I couldn’t wait for us to get out of there.” he spoke in a demure soft voice, his luminous eyes sinking deeply into her own as her enticing refreshed scent assailed his nostrils. “Let us abandon our worries at least for today.”

[The Valkyrie]

They spent the next 2 days relaxing with each other, taking baths together, making love, talking late into the night. It was a lovely experience, and gave them much needed time spent together, without thought of anything or anyone else to bother them. Bryn also took this time to have some time alone with her thoughts, sitting in the quiet gardens downstairs.

It was on the third day in Irrakam that Eryk decided to grace the Keep with his presence. Bryn and Jared were talking quietly in the garden, discussing some inanity or other, when a movement in a doorway behind Jared caught the Valkyrie's attention. Looking past Jared, her mouth fell open as Eryk stepped into the sunlight, a worried smile on his face. He nodded to her, and then glanced to Jared questioningly.

"Eryk," Bryn said, standing quickly, "What..."

Jared had never seen the warrior before, and she didn't know if he could see Eryk now. All she could do was squeeze his shoulder before she crossed the garden, where Eryk pulled her into his arms. She stiffened though, Loki's words coming into her mind, and Eryk frowned deeper, looking down into her eyes with a concerned blue stare.

"Bryn," he said quietly, releasing her and looking over at Jared, "And Jared..."

He spoke as though Jared were his direst enemy, a reaction Bryn had expected long before, but certainly not now. Eryk dismissed Bryn's lover with a cold shrug, and turned back to the Valkyrie, his hand brushing a golden curl from her neck. She wondered if he knew of Loki's accusation, but one look at his face answered this question - he knew full well, and it weighed on him like a heavy snow on a frail tree branch.

"Eryk... Loki said..." she began, but Eryk put his fingers over her lips, and then replaced them with his mouth, a kiss so hard it seemed to bruise her tender mouth. His hands were hard on her shoulders as he pulled her away to look at her once more.

"I know what he said," Eryk answered in a dangerously quiet tone, "Do you believe him?"

Bryn started to shake her head, but then hesitated, looking down at her hands which seemed small and fragile now that she was here with the warrior. She never felt frail with Jared, she always felt strong, sure, smart. With Eryk, she felt inadequate and insufficient. Her gaze wandered to Jared's face, and she found herself smiling again.

"He's a trickster, and nobody should believe him," she laughed lightly, pulling away from Eryk and walking over to a little fountain that tinkled merrily in a pool of yellow sunshine. Distractedly, she sat on the rim, trailing her fingers in the crystal water, its coolness forcing her to focus her thoughts. "Should I?"

"Like you said, he's a trickster, although I don't know why he would find this something to lie about," Eryk said, seeming to evade the question as easily as Bryn had. Something wasn't right about this, and she jerked her head up to look at him, her eyes narrowing on his hard face, the reddish-blonde waves surrounding a weathered jawline, above which lurked a hawklike nose and piercing wintery blue eyes. Why didn't he just say he loved her, why didn't he deny what Loki said? Turning away from him, she crossed to Jared, and reached for his hand, seeking comfort from the one man she did trust.

"Jared, this is Eryk," Bryn explained the obvious, introducing the living to the dead. Eryk nodded, his blue eyes lingering for a moment on Jared's face, and then wandering back to Bryn's as though he didn't care who she'd lost her heart to.

"I just wanted to know who you believed," Eryk said quietly, but that was all he said, and when Bryn looked up from staring at her feet, he was gone.

The encounter left her numb, cold on this bright day, as though the sun had hidden behind a cloud and been replaced with a chill wind. Her eyes searched the garden, as though looking for an answer in the myriads of brightly colored flowers, or in the hapless flight of the tiny birds, or perhaps in the sparkle of the sunlight in the fountain. Shivering, she leaned against Jared.

"Let's go back to our rooms," she whispered, "I think I want to lie down."

[Jared]

Without the sweet, the bitter most certainly wouldn’t sting the way it did on that day. The last two days were a dream, a fragment of a perfect fantasy that Jared’s mind would create from time to time. There were no worries, no bricks of imperative on their back that pushed them down and forward, forcing them to stagger as they trudged down their destined path. Instead they were like feathers caught in an evening gale, playful and jocund, enjoying in each other and the time gifted to them by the benevolent Jya. Their mission was still present, still emanating the usual direness, but it was set aside for this short while, postponed on account of much needed relaxation. Without a shadow of a doubt, those two days was the most cheerful time that Bryn and Jared spent together ever since they met on that fateful Corone night months ago.

But when Eryk showed up on that day, the tower of cards that the two built during this short time crumbled with remarkable ease. The damned warrior was a dominant figure both in physique and posture, his eyes incisive and penetrating, his demeanor bold and intrepid. He looked like one of the warriors that a person could see on paintings that displayed epic battles, making Jared think that if he wasn’t here, he should be standing on some mound forgotten by time, waving a flag as a sign of victory. Of course, he also looked like the type that sat in a tavern with a two-coin hooker on each knee and a pile of downed ale mugs before him, completing the warrior picture, but that was beside the point right now. What mattered was that even though the exile was certainly no slouch when it came to the constitution, the appearance of a weatherworn warrior outshined him easily.

Suffice to say, it came as no surprise that enmity was born between the two on that day. Eryk shot him with and intimidating look from the get-go, but he was met with similar keenness in the similarly colored eyes and the most respect he got from Jared was a nod. The two collided most when the brute embraced Bryn and gave her a kiss, strong and intimate. Jared recoiled, made a move to stop this, but Eryk moved away and whipped him with his bullshooter eyes, making Jared pause his advance and clench his fists at his sides. His brow crumpled into a fierce, angered frown, displaying the fury that was building up inside of the exile, but he remained stoic. No, it would be no good to beat the living crap out of the man, not with Bryn around. The dick-measuring never brought good results, especially for the one that initiated such behavior.

So the exile waited and monitored the exchange with careful, focused eyes, swallowing all the details as if his life depended on it. The short moments of intimacy stuck with him the most, prodding at his pride and questioning the affection he had for the golden haired woman. They prodded because the Valkyrie, that for the last two days repeatedly proved her fidelity to him, did not move away. And the more he observed the two, the more eminent was the snake in his stomach that swiveled restlessly, amplifying his anger and jealousy with each passing second, embittering his insides and cooling them down to the point where even her touch failed to defrost them.

But when Eryk was finally gone and Bryn leant against him as if nothing happened, he couldn’t keep his mouth shut anymore. He recoiled from her touch, placing a couple of paces between the two before he started to speak.

“That’s it?” he said, his voice intentionally caustic and low, though quite controlled at the time, regardless of how much the exile wanted to scream out. His luminous azure eyes that usually glittered with the dreamy gleam were icy and fading to a lifeless gray hue. “He walks in, kisses you shamelessly, before my very eyes, and all you have to say is ‘Let’s go to our rooms’?”

His arms were crossed before his chest, placid like his entire stature, but his fists just wanted to punch something. When he spoke again, his tone was rising in power, gradually portraying his true inner state. “I can live with the fact that you still care for him, Bryn, I told you that back in Raiaera. But this...” he paused again, this time his teeth clenched and his eyes looking away from her. “You didn’t even recoil! Makes me think what will exactly happen when we free him. Will you run to his arms every time that sliver of love in your heart stings and you remember his touch?”

He didn’t wait for an answer, turning away from her and kicking a stone into a nearby pond as he moved closer to it, leaning his shoulder onto an apple tree, his eyes peering into the diamond clarity of the rippling water. His insides were boiling, his anger so tangible that he could feel it pulsate in his veins as that goddamn snake made out of bitterness swam through his gut. He could look at her right now, not when those large hands held her moments before, not when lips other then his own touched her. She was sitting at two chairs and he was slowly getting tired of taking the substitute bench every time Eryk the Almighty would step in.

[The Valkyrie]

It was a damn good thing she was numb, Bryn decided, or Jared's words would have stung her to tears. As it was, they angered her deeply, tearing open a nearly healed wound, and rubbing salt into it. Closing her eyes tightly, and clenching her fists at her sides, she sat down again on the fountain whose lovely tinkling only annoyed her now. Finally, she opened her eyes, staring hard at Jared.

"You are absolutely blind aren't you?" she hissed, her words coming out very slowly, "And you know absolutely NOTHING about me!"

Furiously, she smacked at the water, sending up a shimmering spray. She stood and stalked around the garden like a wildcat provoked, her eyes burning nearly golden with anger, repeatedly falling on Jared's face and then looking away.

"What makes you think I wanted him to kiss me? I didn't ask him to kiss me, I didn't kiss him back even, and yet you accuse me of doing something wrong?!"

Crossing the garden in a flash, she was in front of him, her face inches from his own, her teeth bared in her rage. She could strangle him just now, and it was all she could do just to keep her fists at her sides.

"What do you think I am - some sort of whore? Just because of what I was, and what I did with him? You think that I somehow just take to bed whatever hunk of male flesh I claim to have feelings for? Is that how you feel about it all?"

Tears were streaming down her cheeks and she didn't feel them, her numbness growing, although in her center was an ache that she couldn't suppress. She shoved him roughly, wanting some reaction from him. If he wanted to be angry, then fine, be angry.

"Tell me what you think Jared! I want to know how much of a tramp you think I am? You bedded me - what does that make you? And I'm not even the one who runs around with my sister," it was a low blow and she knew it, knew she would hurt him deeply with those words, and didn't want to, but they were flowing now.

In a blind fury, she began pummeling his chest, her breath coming in broken sobs as she slammed her fists against him. Why the hell was she crying now? She didn't care what anyone thought, she was tired. She tried so hard to know what she wanted, but all she wanted was to not have to be brave and honorable anymore.