Private Tales A Silver Tongue Turned Gold

[Inara Irren]

They were so gorgeous and Inara wished for a moment that their hands were touching her and not Fillian. She would give them whatever they wanted if they just let her stay here with them.

As if they could hear her thoughts, they turned to her and started to step closer to her as they spoke again.

"Oh...we spoke to Mama before we came out here," Inara answered.

There was a smile on her face like she would answer any question honestly. She had no idea if they knew that all her answers were honest but it didn't matter.

 

[Tal]

Rage.

It was the only way to describe the emotion that flickered over the twins face. Utter anger and affront. Tal wasn't sure if it was the affront of talking to Mama Leveau, or the knowledge that the two of them were already bested.

Yet the twins slipped away from Fillian like a pair of snakes. Like liquid they stepped forward, their faces masks of anger as they moved on the two outsiders.

"What do you know of Mama."

"Mama doesn't even know."​

The two girls talked in tandem, and then suddenly Inara and Tal both would feel a weight on their shoulders. It cracked down on them like a lash, as though hands were reaching and grasping. They tore down at the two Underbosses, grappling them and dragging them to their knees.

"Mama doesn't have to know."

The Twins continued.

"The swamp is dangerous."

"So very dangerous."

"Maybe a 'Gator got zem."

"Maybe a monster."​

Their beautiful melodic voices sang out their threats. Touching, hinting singing. Hands flickering over cheek's in a soft and subtle caress. Touching Tal and Inara.

 

[Inara Irren]

The twins started to move towards Inara and Tal as the started to speak in matching creepily smooth singsong voices.

Were they really thinking about going against their mother? Were they really that foolish? The questions had barely formed in her mind when the weight of a thousand stones felt like they had been dropped on her. Inara tried to fight it but she couldn't. She dropped to her knees with a cry.

Panic flickered over Inara's face as their words continued. Feeding them to a gator seemed like a pretty good way to get rid of the two Underbosses.

Her hazel eyes traveled to the faces of the twins. Alternating between the two of them as she smiled softly when they touched her.

She was completely torn between running away and doing whatever they said.

 

[Tal]

Tal's fingers flickered.

It wasn't any semblance of magic. Not real magic anyway. A street trick that he had learned a long time ago, making things 'disappear' in your palm. The Medallion tipped into his hand just as Sylvie took a step a bit too close to him.

A thumb traced over it, and then just as Sybille was about to speak again Tal pressed it against her skin.

The effect was immediate.

Her eyes shot open, her mouth opened, and she let out a sudden scream as she fell to her knees. Sylvie had just enough time to look at her sister in horror before she too suddenly buckled and fell to the ground. Her body tumbled with a thud, and all semblance of their magic was suddenly cut away.

"Ah...there we go." Tal said pulling himself upright and rolling his shoulders.

Eyes glanced down at the two women, both pulling themselves into the fetal position as pain wracked their bodies. "Much better, I think."

He said as the twins whimpered.

 

[Inara Irren]

Inara saw Tal move and she heard the sisters scream right before the weight that was holding her down as well as the fog that was clouding her mind cleared. She took a deep breath like she might if she was coming up from being underwater.

She could think clearly again and she looked at Tal before her eyes shifted to the two twins that were clearly in pain. What a turn of events.

The Underboss slowly got to her feet and looked down at the witches then at Fillion who had not moved.

"Well that is a most intriguing trick, Tal..."

 

[Tal]

Tal squatted down in front of the writhing twins. His eyes flickered up and down over their forms. The smile on his lips was unmistakably sadistic, reveling in the cruelty before him.

Both of the twins shook violently, eyes closed, fingers curled in. Neither could move, the pain wracking through them all but entirely debilitating. The magic that they had used so flippantly had been turned upon them, enough to bind them in chains of agony. "Inara."

He glanced up, looking at his fellow Underboss.

"I think you can take care of your problem now." Tal slowly looked to Fillian. "No?"

Fillion seemed to freeze in place. Stuttering something and taking half a step back. He looked at the twins on the ground, then to Inara, then to Tal. Sweat began to slowly bead on his brow, and he took a very slow step backwards.

 

[Inara Irren]

"Yes, I can," she said as she smiled evilly at her problem.

"I had planned to be kind and give you a chance to explain yourself. I was even willing to possibly let you off with a punishment but no need to tell Marcus and all. I changed my mind now, Fillion. Now you are going to die..."

Inara moved swiftly and was almost to her target by the time she finished speaking. Fillion was already turning to run as she caught him and threw him against one of the walls.

He was trying to explain to her and beg for forgiveness but she wasn't having it. She would have listened before but the witches had pissed her off.

Inara kneed him him the crotch and when he doubled over in pain, she stabbed him in the gut. Double pain and a slow, agonizing death. She stood over him as he fell to the floor and clutched his bleeding midsection.

"Goodbye, Fillion..."

 

[Tal]

Tal stood there quietly, crouching in place as he watched Inara rid herself of her problem.

It was what had sparked all of this of course, what had lead them here down this road. He wondered if Inara really had planned to spare the man. Not that it really mattered either way. He was scum, likely not even worth the coin that he would produce.

Not at all like the two women laying in front of him.

Both of the twins were still writhing. Small whimpers of agony slipping from their lips. Sybille had managed to open her eyes by now. She was staring up at Tal, a mixture of utter hatred and and pleading. Neither of the witches were used to pain. ”Don’t worry.”

He told the twins.

”It won’t last forever.” Tal smiled, a sinister reveling smile. ”I can release the spell at any time.”

His words dropped to a whisper. ”But I want tomake something clear first, to both of you.”

A hand reached out, gently curling within Sylvie’s hair. He dragged her head to face him, ensuring both the twins were watching him. ”You work for me now. Both of you.”

 

[Inara Irren]

Fillion was bleeding out on the floor and the twins were writhing in pain. This had taken a very nice turn.

Inara did flinch slightly when Tal grabbed Sylvie's hair and forced her to look at him. He was always sly and cunning but he was never unnecessarily cruel. While she knew they deserved this but it still made her feel a little sick. Maybe it was because they were still women.

Her feelings were not strong enough to speak up though.

"Tal, do you need anything else down here or can we head back to the docks?"

 

[Tal]

Tal didn’t answer for a moment, instead he stared into the twin’s eyes, as though he were reveling within the moment.

It was then that Inara would be able to see it. That flicker of sadism, of pleasure within pain. The victory in his eyes was something to be savored, a drop of ecstasy that came from winning and nothing else. He had beaten the twins, and that was all that mattered.

He lingered for a moment more, and then finally stood up. Tal’s eyes finally flickered towards Inara. ”We can go.”

Tal said plainly, then looked back down towards the twins.

”The pain will stop in a few hours.” He told them, slowly letting the medallion trickle over his fingers. Maneuvering the coin in full view of their eyes. “Then I suggest you talk to Mamma.”

As he spoke the pool of blood began to surround the two women. ”Be seeing you soon.”

He blew them a kiss, and then walked out of the cabin.

 

[Inara Irren]

The look on Tal's face and deep in his eyes sent shivers up Inara's spine. This was a man who wanted to win at whatever cost and he had just won against these two young ladies. No...he had won against these two evil witches and he was right to revel in this victory.

Inara watched stone faced as the blood pooled around them and then she shifted her gaze back to Tal.

She followed him quickly from the cabin and finally let a breath of relief. She had really questioned if they would survive that for a few minutes.

"That was...something..."

 

[Tal]

Tal glanced back for a brief moment. "Was it?"

He sounded almost innocent.

"I suppose so." The Tyrian said with a smile. He was getting so close now. The pieces were falling into places. Every step he took, every little thing he did...it was getting so very close. He'd thought it take a decade, and now it only seemed half.

Tal couldn't quite keep the joy from his face.

"We'll have to celebrate." He remarked. "There's a party soon."

The Tyrian mused. "We'll have to attend."

 

[Inara Irren]

Inara just raised a brow in Tal's direction. She had a feeling this party was part of the payment that she owed him and she had a feeling that she would wearing whatever the outfit was he had planned.

She was both terrified and excited.

"When is this party?" Inara asked in her own innocent tone knowing full well that the party would be anything but.

 

[Tal]

"A week or so." Tal said, as though he had to actually think about it.

Inara would know well enough that she knew every precise little nuance about any party he would even think of attending. She would also know that there was likely an agenda to it, beyond just having his own little fun for a night. "You'll have time to revel in your victory."

The Underboss mused.

"I'm sure your father will be pleased." He told her. "Or perhaps not at all."

His head cocked. "Do you plan to ever tell him any of this happened?"

The Tyrian asked with genuine curiosity.

 

[Inara Irren]

"I have no idea if I plan to tell him. Part of me wants to know about his relationship with the witches but the other part of me doesn't want him to know how badly I fucked up."

Inara left it at that and kissed Tal lightly on the cheek before thanking him. Once they returned to the docks, she headed home. She had a week to mentally prepare herself for the party.

~ A Week or So Later ~
​

Inara waltzed into Tal's warehouse like she owned the place. She only had one of his men at her back this time. Were they making progress in their friendship? No, friendship was too strong of a word. Whatever it was, she seemed more at ease being here than her previous visits.

She did not bother to try and make her outfit look good since she knew he would be sticking her in something different but she did try with her hair and makeup. Her dark hair was in large loose curls instead of up in its usual updo. She tried for him.

Inara was still nursing a lovely stab in her abdomen that still hurt like a motherfucker. If she had told her father, she could have used one his healers but she was stubborn and she was too afraid to tell her father about this mishap. Especially since he was still displeased about the thing with Fillian and the witches.

"Talmanese? I have arrived for the party!" She sang out as she swept towards his office.

 

[Tal]

When Inara stepped into Tal's office she would find it an utter destroyed mess.

Papers lay everywhere, half crushed and destroyed crates spotted the room, his desk was overturned, and Tal stood absolutely seething. His shirt was half torn, eyes wild, the marks on his forearms one full display as his chest slowly rose and fell.

Dozens of cuts and scrapes covered him, blood slowly seeping from shallow and deep wounds alike. His hair a matted mess of crimson.

Directly in front of him lay a body.

It was a strange sort of figure, a human if one had to guess...but there was something off about him. His clothes were gray, and every-time ones eyes fell upon him vision almost seemed to...blur. As though he were not actually there.

A blade rested in the figures hand, loosely curled, the metal covered in Tyrian blood. "Ah."

Tal said with a grimace, hand touching one of the bloody wounds on his side. "Good of you to get here."

He remarked bitterly.

 

[Inara Irren]

Inara stopped dead in her tracks as she took in the scene around her. The office was destroyed and Tal was covered in blood. She ran to him without a thought to her own still healing wound.

"Tal! What happened?!"

She noticed the odd dead man on the ground but she did not care about him. She only cared to make sure that Tal was alright.

"You need to see a healer!" She said she she fussed over him and his wounds trying to make sure that none were life threatening.

 

[Tal]

Tel gently placed a hand on Inara, softly urging her back and away from himself. The grimace on his face was clear, even more clear was the fact that he did not want her touching his blood. "I'll be fine."

He said with a grimace.

"I've already called for the twins." One would think they were the last he would want to see in a moment like this, but both were indebted in his service now. "They'll sow me up well enough."

A hiss escaped his teeth, and then he gestured towards a crate over in the corner of the room. "Grab me a bottle of rum, yeah?"

The Underboss said, clutching his wound and slowly sitting himself down in his chair. Letting out another hiss of pain seconds later.

 

[Inara Irren]

Inara was a little hurt that he pushed her away from him and she was not sure why. They were not friends or lovers. They used each other for their own ends and paid in favors. Why did she feel something about him being wounded and then subsequently literally pushing her away? She had no idea.

"They better get here fast before you bleed to death," she grumbled.

She was not sure how bad the wounds were since he had not allowed her to look closely but there was a lot of blood. She frowned and rolled her eyes as he hissed in pain. She hated feeling useless.

Inara walked slowly over to the crate and lifted the lid off with her own wince of pain. She grabbed two bottles and walked back over to his desk.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" She asked as she held out one of the bottles.

 

[Tal]

Tal grunted in agreement. He fucking hoped the bitches weren’t taking their merry time. The sway he now held over them should have prevented that, but with witches one never really knew for sure.

The bottle was snatched from the table, bloody fingers wrapping around the neck as teeth sunk into the cork and pulled it free. He took a quick swig, letting out a sigh and sucking in a deep breath before tilting the bottle of his wounds.

He hissed in pain, grimacing. ”It’s a Faceless.”

Tal remarked finally in answer, closing his eyes and resting the bottle on his knees.

”They’re assassins.” That much would have been obvious even to an idiot. The dead man on the floor seemed to almost be melting now, his body turning slowly into a saggy mush. ”Not quite human, not quite…anything else.”

He grunted. ”Guess I made someone very unhappy.”

Not that that was anything new.

 

[Inara Irren]

Inara couldn’t help but sympathy wince as Tal poured the rum on his wound. She had done the same thing so many times and she knew the burning pain that lanced through him.

She had never heard of this brand of assassin but it definitely intrigued her. Something about them made her wonder what made them different from other races besides their looks. That was something to look into.

Inara let out a chuckle at his last words. “Is that something new? You seem to make everyone mad,” she looked innocent as she said it.

 

[Tal]

Tal offered a wry smile. "Only new in the quality of assassin they sent."

He remarked bitterly, though as he spoke his mind was spinning.

Over the years the Underboss had made dozens of enemies. Men, women, even a few fucking children who gladly would have cut his throat. Few had the resources the hire a faceless however, and fewer still would have the balls.

The list would have to be narrowed, but before he could speak up again a loud thunderous knock echoed against the door. "Go get that, will you?"

Tal remarked, his head somewhat woozy.

"We have a party to go to still." And perhaps a lure to set out.

 

[Inara Irren]

Inara shot Tal a look. He was in no shape to go to a party. She didn’t point it out though. Arguing with him would just make him want to go even more. She had never met someone more stubborn than her until Tal came into her life.

She pulled open the warehouse door to come face to face with the bitch witches. Her lip rose in a silent snarl as she stepped to the side to allow them entry.

 

[Tal]

The twins only offered Inara smug smiles as they slipped past her and into the warehouse. Their steps seemed to echo, eyes flickering to and fro as they looked inside the hallowed criminal hall.

"Oh dear, Talmanese."​

Sybile said with a shake of her head, spotting the bleeding Underboss. Sylvie slipped passed her sister, wandering in with satchel. From it she pulled a small pouch made of leather, a needle with no thread tucked in her fingers.

"Took you long enough." The Underboss grunted.

"Is a very long trip, no?"

"We had to make zure ve had all ze right supplies."​

The twins seemed to relish the pain on Tal's face, though the expressions of mirth went away as they spotted the faceless upon the ground. Almost immediately their lips thinned, and without further taunts or teases they stepped towards Tal.

One crouching at his side, the other dabbing at his bloody side with a rag. "Just clean it up, I have things to do tonight."

He remarked quietly.

 

[Inara Irren]

Inara followed the witches back towards Tal and stood with her arms folded across her chest as she monitored their work.

"Tal, you need to rest tonight. There will be other events that you can call your favor in on."

He was clearly in pain and while cleaning and stitching the would would help the healing, it would not help the pain. She knew. She had a fresh-ish wound herself.

Honestly, Inara was still trying to figure out why she gave a single fuck about Tal or his pain.