Fate - First Reply Blades Crossed

[Keia Merrenia]

It was both alluring and torturous. While she certainly enjoyed having some way to show her submission, and she definitely appreciated the thumb, she would much rather it be something else, a very specific something else. She hummed contently, while at the same time whimpered in need.

When he pulled his thumb out and ordered they leave, she’d say, “one moment please, Master.”

She’d go over to the place where’s he had hidden the troll corpses, and with magic removed a short strip of leathery trollskin. She returned to his side as she allowed magic to flow through the short piece of trollskin, shifting it’s properties into something a little smoother, and she placed it in his hand, then lifted her hair. “A slave needs to be marked somehow~”

 

[Christian Vide]

“A slave needs to be marked somehow~”

He nodded and didn't hesitate to put it on her. He made it tight enough to be a constant reminder of her station, but not tight enough to strangle her. If they ever came across a blacksmith they would have to get something more appropriate, but this would do for now.

He gave the order and they continued walking, the rain still refused to let up and seemed like it was coming down even harder again.
He looked at her bare skin for a moment while they walked and touched her exposed stomach to check her surface temperature.
"Are you cold? Do you need my shirt again?"

 

[Keia Merrenia]

He nodded and didn't hesitate to put it on her. He made it tight enough to be a constant reminder of her station, but not tight enough to strangle her. If they ever came across a blacksmith they would have to get something more appropriate, but this would do for now.

She felt the tight, but not too tight, collar hug her throat snugly. She ran a hand along it, a strange sense of completeness washed over her. She smiled at him. “Thank you, Master.”

He looked at her bare skin for a moment while they walked and touched her exposed stomach to check her surface temperature.
"Are you cold? Do you need my shirt again?"

“No thank you Master, I’m fine. The cold doesn’t bother me.” She said calmly, making sure Tom add some extra sway into her hips as she walked. “But I wouldn’t complain if you decided to take your shirt off anyway~”

 

[Christian Vide]

“No thank you Master, I’m fine. The cold doesn’t bother me.” She said calmly, making sure Tom add some extra sway into her hips as she walked. “But I wouldn’t complain if you decided to take your shirt off anyway~”

He was planning on offering her the wet spare in his bag that he gave her yesterday, not the shirt off his own back even though the cold didn't effect him in any meaningful way either. It's not that he never got cold, but so long as his temperature stayed at livable minimum he simply didn't care.

They climbed down a slight incline into a little hummock and they were about to ascend the other side when they heard a faint whistle. Christian suddenly tackled Keia to the ground and protected her with his body as two throwing knives flew overhead.
"They found us..."
He looked up at the top of the rise they just left and he saw five assassins, a Cerberus, and a knight standing in the rain.

He slowly stood up and faced them, keeping himself between her and their enemies.
Scenarios ran through his head in a flash, but as far as defensive strategies went they were in a fatal position.
"Run ahead. Perhaps we can handle them if their forces are divided. I'll cover you."
He drew several throwing knives. And shouted for the first time...
"GO!"

Spoiler: The Illusions

She could probably detect two illusions that took place in this moment...
The first was the daggers that flew over their heads.
The second was a much stronger illusion on Christian. It was powerful but if she looked hard enough she would see that those two knives didn't miss their mark...

 

[Keia Merrenia]

(she is well connected with Illusion magic. She'd see them.)

They climbed down a slight incline into a little hummock and they were about to ascend the other side when they heard a faint whistle. Christian suddenly tackled Keia to the ground and protected her with his body as two throwing knives flew overhead.
"They found us..."
He looked up at the top of the rise they just left and he saw five assassins, a Cerberus, and a knight standing in the rain.

She looked back at the place where the knives had come from, and saw five assassins, the three headed dog, and Eberwolf. She knew he was a knight, and typically that wouldn't worry her, but she'd seen him take down creatures that would easily shred the four trolls they'd faced earlier with his hands. Not to mention that he put her in a coma to bring her in, one that almost killed her.

She looked up at the assassins in concern, they'd be hard to outrun. But then she felt the presence of illusions and she looked for the source. One had already gone, the second remained in place. She tracked the source, and saw the knives in his back. Terror gripped her heart, he could die.

He slowly stood up and faced them, keeping himself between her and their enemies.
Scenarios ran through his head in a flash, but as far as defensive strategies went they were in a fatal position.
"Run ahead. Perhaps we can handle them if their forces are divided. I'll cover you."
He drew several throwing knives. And shouted for the first time...
"GO!"

"Master, you're hurt." She said simply, and she conjured the flames from before and created a broad wall of it between them and their persuers. Then she put his arm over her shoulder and tried to help him along. She was small, but strong.

 

[Christian Vide]

"Master, you're hurt."

The flames would only buy them a little time, time enough for her.
He wrenched her arms off and slapped her forcefully across the face in the direction she was to go. His face didn't register anger or even pain, just the cold eyes of the killer.
"I said go. Obey me."
He didn't shout this time, but a warning was laced through his words.

Another volley of knives flew through the flames and without even turning to look he caught them... Because this time they were aimed at him.
He recognized what happened, they targeted her so that he wouldn't detect danger as quickly had he been the target, and so he had no time to stop them with his hands.
They were using her against him already, and he wouldn't allow it to happen again... Or he WILL die...

He turned away from her again, before they could throw more knives or darts at her he retaliated, sending five knives flying up the hill, forcing them to dodge instead of attack.
He looked back at Keia, he was not about to repeat himself.

 

[Keia Merrenia]

Being smacked across the face hurt, but it was within his right to do that to her, and she was swiftly reminded of her place and obeyed, despite the pain in her chest at leaving him in such a dangerous situation. She fled, with tears streaming freely down her face she fled. And she hated it. She knew that if he were to survive he'd find her again, but it wasn't a question of it he'd find her, it was a question of would he survive.

Her feet struck the forest floor as she ran.

 

[Christian Vide]

She obeyed him this time and ran, the knight and his three headed hound went to pursue her and Christian was about to cut him off but now he was forced to dodge as another flurry of knives flew at him, he ducked behind a tree and drew one of his daggers.
He watched impassively as the knight and hound ran up the hill after his slave while he couldn't do anything about it without turning his back to his enemies.

He had to finish this quickly. Hopefully Keia could outdistance the knight long enough for Christian to deal with these amateurs and catch up.

An illusion of Christian bolted from the other side of the tree and took cover behind another one, attracting another volley of thrown weapons, while Christian used his illusions to turn invisible and climb up the tree he was hiding behind.
Once invisibly in the tree he could look down and see what his enemies were doing, four assassins were about to circle around the tree to get at him, the fifth was invisible but Christian found him with his new magical senses also about to round the tree.

He made his clone bolt for another tree but it was caught in the back by another thrown dagger. The illusion dissipated and now the assassins were on the alert again.
He silently switched to another tree moving along the branches and looked for a better angle of attack.

 

[Keia Merrenia]

Keia ran, her Master had told her to. She didn’t want to leave him, not with those enemies, but he’d made it quite clear that he wasn’t not to be disobeyed. Her footfalls drummed against the soft forest floor, and she was breathing hard as she ran. But not even at her top speed was she capable of outrunning the knight and his dog when they were so close.

As if on cue, fast, repetitive, and consistent booming footsteps could be heard behind her, and they were getting louder. But for as fast as the knight was, his dog was faster. She had to stop very suddenly when the three headed dog was suddenly in her way.

Forced to stop, she turned to run in a different direction, but the dog intercepted her again. Then a voice, a familiar one, spoke from behind her.

“I warned you Necromancer. Now it’s back to prison with you.”

 

[Christian Vide]

The assassins were cautious, they knew about his illusion magic when he sent the troll their way disguised as himself and Keia.
Christian watched them a moment longer, but he was focusing on the invisible assassin... He will die first.
Christian produced a long cord from his pouch and tied one of his knives to one end for a weight.
Then he watched as the assassin passed under his hiding place, he could see the rain bouncing off of the blank space and could tell exactly where the head would be.

The invisible assassin passed under the branch and suddenly felt the thin cord wrap tightly around his throat, Christian dropped down from the branch, using his weight to lever on the rope, the assassin was pulled straight up, his neck constricted he was unable to gasp or call out and suffocated in seconds... And since he was still invisible his comrades didn't know he was gone.

The assassins quietly stalked about, looking for any sign of Christian, but every time they saw the rain bouncing off of his invisible body they assumed he was their companion.
After a minute they cautiously gathered together for a whispered counsel which Christian listened in on.
"He's about here somewhere, no way did he leave."

A smaller one whispered in, "Use the crystal ball."

Another joined in, "He's watching us right now no doubt. While we're trying to get the ball attuned he'll be moving into position to strike. We were tracking that Necromancer after all, he left nothing for us to use in his cabin."

The fourth spoke up, "He's got my daggers in him, we could use that. But you're right, no time."

Luckily they didn't expect their invisible companion to comment. He was their back-up incase they got ambushed during their conversation.
Luckily the rain washed away the blood dripping on the ground.

The time for death was now.
He dropped his invisibility and stepped towards the gathered assassins.
He did this so casually that the assassins saw him but then did a double take when they realized who he was.
That was the moment of hesitation that killed them.
He whipped his dagger across the throat of closest assassin and he went down choking on his own blood, before the other two could defend themselves they shared the same fate. The last one leapt back with his dagger drawn and threw his knives at Christian.

He ducked around the thrown blades and lunged forward, their blades clashed for only a brief moment before Christians second dagger came around. This assassin was more experienced then the others and saw it coming, but still took the blade through his shoulder.
Christian didn't stop, he knocked the dagger from his hands and kicked his knee in.
Then without fanfare or hesitation, without allowing a plead or a trick, he slit the assassins throat.
Four assassins lay dead on the ground, one female. three males, and one invisible up in a tree.

He quickly searched them and took the assassins ring of invisibility, as well as their extra throwing knives, daggers, and their poison kits. He considered trying to raise them as undead to serve him, but he didn't know how to do that yet, instead he consumed one of their souls and stored the rest.

Then he bolted in the direction the knight and hound went.
Time to catch up with Keia.

 

[Keia Merrenia]

Keia’s battle with the knight wasn’t as along as Christian’s fight with the assassins. She put up a fight, and even managed to singe the dog’s fur. But she was clearly outmatched, and he had her face shoved harshly against a tree, and her arms were bound securely behind her, then her ankles and knees bound firmly to each other, then she was put atop the dog, and the knight spoke.

“Come Kerberos, it is time to return home.” (Kerberos is the original Greek word for Cerberus, just a happy little reference.)

Keia struggled desperately, she had to get away. She had to escape. But how? He had secured her arms with shackles that seemed to prevent her from using magic, possibly the very same shackles that had bound her in the prisons. Her wrists were bound behind her, and her elbows were secured to each other by a bar between them and cuffs on either end, these were set just above her elbows.

She cried out, “HELP!”

He quickly had her gagged after that.

 

[Christian Vide]

A scent so powerful and foul filled the air, the rain useless in dampening or drowning it out. It was so strong as to make even the Cerberus reluctant to move towards it as it originated from their intended path, it's three sets of nostrils tortured by the powerful smell that seemed to not originate from anything born or died of this world... And also served as a perfect scent screen since smelling anything else was now effectively impossible.

Thunder rumbled overhead once more and a flash of lightening briefly lit up the forest, making a lone shadowy figure momentarily visible through the curtains of rain, the wind blew and the black coat billowed around him before the greyness descended once more and the figure vanished.
Upon the next flash of lightening the figure was nowhere in sight.

They started quietly at first, but the whispers began echoing around them and slowly grew in volume.

... Knight...
... Knight...
... Knight...
... Paladin...
... Warrior...
... Paladin...
... Thief...
... Thief...
... Thief...
... THIEF!!!

The last was a shout, and it sounded like it was right in the ear of the knight, as if the speaker were right beside him but only a shadow flitting through the trees remained when he reacted.
The shadows were all over the place, but never more than one was visible at a time, moving just out of the corner of their eyes.

Again, right in his ear, a voice as clear as day and casual as a the average joe on the town, spoke.
"You have something that belongs to me."
This time when he turned he was faced with that same blurry shadow, but evil red eyes burned with hatred in the intangible shadows of its face.
The sharp contrasting form of a quite real dagger thrust forward with deadly accuracy directly for the space between his armor and his helmet.

 

[Keia Merrenia]

Again, right in his ear, a voice as clear as day and casual as a the average joe on the town, spoke.
"You have something that belongs to me."
This time when he turned he was faced with that same blurry shadow, but evil red eyes burned with hatred in the intangible shadows of its face.
The sharp contrasting form of a quite real dagger thrust forward with deadly accuracy directly for the space between his armor and his helmet.

The knight had seen far worse things, far more terrifying than a man with red eyes. Heck red eyes were a staple trait of vampires Andy he killed them basically as a pastime. The dagger was swift, but he was just as fast, and he caught the assassin’s wrist. “She’s not yours anymore assassin. She’s a criminal, she belongs in a prison cell.”

Keia took the opportunity to attempt rolling off the dog’s back. She succeeded, and she thought that the dog wouldn’t be able to take her away now that she was off of it’s back, she was wrong. As it turns out, the bar holding her elbows still had a purpose besides immobilizing her arms. The dog, with it’s middle head, grabbed the bar with it’s mouth, and began to carry her away.

The moment his wrist was caught, Eberwolf kicked the assassin’s knee hard. Then kicking him to the ground drew his sword.

 

[Christian Vide]

The knight grabbed for a wrist, but his fingers closed on air, he kicked for a knee but hit only a shadow. The image shifted again, once more displacing the location of the assassins true body if he were actually there to begin with.
The real (seeming) knife grazed the chainmail about the knights throat as if to show he could have ended this fight right then and there... If he were there.

There was a tiny pop as a bomb spewed forth its payload of gas, a powerful hypnotic agent that dissipated quickly in the rain, though not before it did its damage. At this point it was already hard to tell what was reality and what was fiction, the drug was intended to make it more so.

Christian wasn't a fear fetish assassin, he had his calling card but that's as far as he went into personalizing his style of assassination. But these were mere tricks of the light, and they served a deeper purpose.

On the hound side the shadows continued to taunt its two free heads, some coming just within reach to be bitten only to dodge away or vanish if they were bitten.
But one passing shadow left a dagger heavily coated in a powerful paralytic thrust deep into its flank before melting back into the greyness of the rain.

The whispers began again, but this time only a single monotone word.

... Thief...
... Thief...
... Thief...
... Thief...

Vampires had their tricks, but this was a phantom...

 

[Keia Merrenia]

The knight grabbed for a wrist, but his fingers closed on air, he kicked for a knee but hit only a shadow. The image shifted again, once more displacing the location of the assassins true body if he were actually there to begin with.
The real (seeming) knife grazed the chainmail about the knights throat as if to show he could have ended this fight right then and there... If he were there.

There was a tiny pop as a bomb spewed forth its payload of gas, a powerful hypnotic agent that dissipated quickly in the rain, though not before it did its damage. At this point it was already hard to tell what was reality and what was fiction, the drug was intended to make it more so.

Christian wasn't a fear fetish assassin, he had his calling card but that's as far as he went into personalizing his style of assassination. But these were mere tricks of the light, and they served a deeper purpose.

On the hound side the shadows continued to taunt its two free heads, some coming just within reach to be bitten only to dodge away or vanish if they were bitten.
But one passing shadow left a dagger heavily coated in a powerful paralytic thrust deep into its flank before melting back into the greyness of the rain.

The whispers began again, but this time only a single monotone word.

... Thief...
... Thief...
... Thief...
... Thief...

Vampires had their tricks, but this was a phantom...

The knight began to chuckle, then laugh, “it’s about time I met someone with a decent level of skill. I haven’t fought someone who can keep up for a very long time. Well done assassin, well done. But I cannot have you keeping this criminal in the free world. My dog, Kerberos, would be more than happy to have her for a snack. Shall I give the order?”

He didn’t know this assassin, but he was clearly gifted in deception, so he had to be careful. Luckily for him, he’d encountered illusionists before, namely the woman now in his custody. He knew that no illusion was perfect, and there was always a way to tell what was real and what was fake, a shimmer, a distortion, a flicker. A glimpse of what was real, a falter in what was not. The knife glancing his mail told him what to look for, next strike, he’d be ready.

 

[Christian Vide]

“it’s about time I met someone with a decent level of skill. I haven’t fought someone who can keep up for a very long time. Well done assassin, well done. But I cannot have you keeping this criminal in the free world. My dog, Kerberos, would be more than happy to have her for a snack. Shall I give the order?”

The voice was now more like a little devil just sitting on his shoulder, disembodied but there.
There was a reason he was the best at what he did, and one reason of many was the lack of distraction... He knew his goal, and it wasn't the knight or his hound.

"You're dogs teeth are cracking under its own tightening muscles. Observe."
The paralytic was fast moving and powerful, within seconds the Cerberus was immobilized. Leaving Keia hanging from its mouth while its teeth all but bit through the metal binding.

The problem with illusions and seeing through them was when layers of truth were introduced, or rather, layers of falsehood.
The ring of invisibility wasn't an illusion, but a powerful magic.
As far as the knight knew, the dagger he saw and felt was real... Or at least the "real" that Christian wanted him to accept.
And now the hypnotic fumes he ingested from the gas during his laughter would make focusing on real and false that much more difficult.
This was only the beginning of the vast psychological game The Phantom Rose now played.

"The agent you breathed in is a highly volatile strain of hypnotic, without an antidote you will continue to see visions and will begin suffering sever mental damage within hours, perhaps a day if your strong, but long before you reach the nearest village your mind will suffer irreparable damage, and I assure you that the next closest antidote is all the way in Alliria... Besides myself."
He wouldn't dignify the knight with a stand up battle, he could win or he could lose, either way it would be useless. It was better to force an enemy into checkmate with a minimal loss of pieces, because being unable to move the king through his own defenses will corner him far more swiftly than removing every piece he possesses.
"In addition, if you keep my property, I will not cease to hound your every step. Every blade of grass, every leaf, every hanging branch, every patch of moss, every root, the entire forest will become your enemy. If nothing else, your hound will be sure to die along the way and you will suffer and eventually go insane by my poison."

The voice took on an amused tone.
"Do the logical thing. Give me back what is mine and I will spare your life."

 

[Keia Merrenia]

"This has been done to me before child. Once by the vampires, and again by this witch you are protecting.” He said calmly. “I’ve seen this before, and no poison lasts forever, and I can guarantee you that I will last longer than she will.”

He looked very calm, too calm. Unbothered by the threats or illusions. He seized Keia’s new collar and picked her up by it, and she struggled to breathe. “But from what I can tell, you’re fond of making deals. I can hardly let her go free, and simply handing her over would be doing just that. So, show yourself and we may speak, else, your... property, suffers.”

 

[Christian Vide]

“I’ve seen this before, and no poison lasts forever, and I can guarantee you that I will last longer than she will.”

No poison lasts forever? That depends on the immune system, not the poison. And by the time his body fights off this poison, if he's able to at all, the damage to his psyche will already be done.

But as expected, he wasn't to be intimidated. He was likely to kill her before his death just for the sake of duty. He shouldn't have expected logic to mean anything to him.

“But from what I can tell, you’re fond of making deals. I can hardly let her go free, and simply handing her over would be doing just that. So, show yourself and we may speak, else, your... property, suffers.”

He was silent for a moment, though the fluttering shadows didn't let up, feinting attacks that turned out to be nothing.
He was thoughtful and considering his thinning options. His goal was to rescue Keia unharmed, but now in the hands of their common enemy there were a few things he could do with low chances of success, the odds were small that she would be unharmed should he try anything further.

Logic drove his decision, but he wasn't foolish enough to actually show himself.
He invisibly followed an image of himself, unblurred by shadows and disguises, into view of the knight. While the image stood out of range of his sword he invisibly moved beside Keia, ready to personally take action should the knight try anything.

The voice shifted from the knights ear to originate from the image and he spoke, his face deadpan and seemingly bored.
He crossed his arms while his blue eyes bore into the visor of the knight's helmet.
The knights assessment was incorrect, Christian didn't like making deals.
"You're not a reasonable man. Otherwise you would have accepted my offer. If you won't preserve yourself why should I trust any deal you have to make?"
He went on.
"I'll make this simple. If you harm or kill her your mission will be a success, but you will die and will ultimately have nothing to show for your efforts."

 

[Keia Merrenia]

"You're not a reasonable man. Otherwise you would have accepted my offer. If you won't preserve yourself why should I trust any deal you have to make?"
He went on.
"I'll make this simple. If you harm or kill her your mission will be a success, but you will die and will ultimately have nothing to show for your efforts."

He shook his head and lowered Keia to the ground, easing the pressure on her throat. “I’m offended. I pride myself on being reasonable. Being expected to simply let a necromancer go free simply because my life may end if I do not isn’t unreasonable. And you can trust the deal that I am going to offer because I always keep my word. I offer you a contract.”

“I’ll have a dead necromancer, a demon, to show for it. One less monster in the world. But she needn’t die, only be contained, and you seem to be quite capable of doing just that. I offer you a home, lands, a title and sovereignty, in exchange, I ask only that you keep her from the rest of the world. If you require further assurance that I am serious, a blood pact can be made.”

If he were any good at reading people, he’d be able to tell that the knight was serious, dead serious.

 

[Christian Vide]

Home? A place to be bound to.
Land? A location where he won't be able to hide.
Title? Attention to make him an even bigger target.
Sovereignty? Power given to him by someone else and therefore beholding to someone else to make more tempting a deal he has no desire to accept.
There was no upside to accepting this deal, if he would be content with her being controlled then Christian could do so without any trade or exchange, in fact this knight was probably better off simply warning him to keep her on a short leash if they wanted him to stop hunting them.

He shook his head. This situation was strange. This knight was willing to "Reward" him if he kept her hidden from the world, yet if he had the power to do as he said then it followed that Christian would then be beholding to the knight or at least answering to him as a lesser political entity.
He had no desire to allow this knight any hold over him or Keia by extension.

"I don't doubt your sincerity, knight. But I never deal from a position of weakness. I apologise if you feel the same, but I won't negotiate like this."
Since he didn't hold Keia as tightly Christian felt safe to move.
He quickly trapped the knights armored wrist and then slammed his elbow upwards, hyperextending his elbow between the two plates of his armor and forcing him to release Keia.
He quickly took Keia in his arms and positioned himself between her and the knight, his dagger drawn and poised should retaliation follow.
The illusion image in front of the knight vanished, leaving the real Christian facing him now.

"Now let's rephrase this negotiation and come to an understanding... What do I have to do to make you cease hunting Keia for good? What is the point of giving me my own holding and sovereignty if not to be able to keep an eye on me and her and hammer us down the moment we step out of line?"

 

[Keia Merrenia]

The attack was met with quick response, a backward kick into the assassin's gut while his arm was held. He had already released Kris from his grip, so he was free to twist as he needed to without hindrance to deliver a counterstrike.

"By sovereignty, I meant autonomy, you will not be beholden to my laws or rules. You would be an independent lord of the state. What you have to do is restrict her use of necromancy, and keep her from leaving your lands. And giving you land and authority gives you a good way to be more alert for assassins who come for you, and possibly Train a counter force for them. I only ask that you keep her on a short leash, and independent rule is yours."

 

[Christian Vide]

The kick was exactly the type of retaliation he was expecting and the dagger flashed downward towards the lightly armored joint behind the knee. Whether he hit or not was inconsequential, he still stepped backwards out of range to avoid the kick.

The illusion was hazy now, but still barely tried to cover the two daggers in his back. He could have taken that kick had he not already been considerably weakened. The rain washed it away but he had lost a lot of blood even if he didn't show any outward sign of pain or labor.

"By sovereignty, I meant autonomy, you will not be beholden to my laws or rules. You would be an independent lord of the state. What you have to do is restrict her use of necromancy, and keep her from leaving your lands. And giving you land and authority gives you a good way to be more alert for assassins who come for you, and possibly Train a counter force for them. I only ask that you keep her on a short leash, and independent rule is yours."

He found it hard to believe that this knight was choosing to trust him, to give him his own land no strings attached just to contain her... While he had no reason to contain her and would then possess the autonomy to go against these conditions at his discretion.

In other words, the knight would stop hunting them if Christian simply accepted the offer, and the knight was willing to let him do as he pleased without supervision, so he could even choose to not restrict Keia...
He showed no outward sign and felt no inward sensation, but he would have been shocked and dumbfounded had he the capacity.
In this light there was no downside to accepting the offer... Except in regards to assassins... He wasn't a fool. Countermeasures and defenses were mere obstacles for an assassin to eventually overcome. Even if he makes the most foolproof plans they will have to constantly change, constantly randomize, constantly evolve. If it were anything less than that an assassin could figure it out, work out the puzzle, figure out the pattern, circumvent the protection, find the chink in the armor.
And he will be like a rat in a trap, with nowhere to run.

But he will figure that out later. For now all he had to do was accept the offer to send the knight home, take advantage of his foolishness, and then drop it in the dirt as soon as it's usefulness is spent.
He didn't give the knight any hint at his thoughts and mentioned none of this.
"Very well... I accept your offer. You will cease your pursuit of Keia and make me a Baron."
He plucked two vials from his pouch and tossed them to the knight.
"Here's the antidote for you and the counter to the paralytic in your hound."

 

[Keia Merrenia]

He didn't give the knight any hint at his thoughts and mentioned none of this.
"Very well... I accept your offer. You will cease your pursuit of Keia and make me a Baron."
He plucked two vials from his pouch and tossed them to the knight.
"Here's the antidote for you and the counter to the paralytic in your hound."

The vials were caught quite easily, despite his drugged state, and after applying the vial of cure for his dog, he took his own cure. “I know full well that your kind consider contracts binding. I trust that you will uphold your end, just as you may trust that I will uphold mine.”

Keia breathed a sigh of relief through her nose, her mouth still gagged and her limbs still tightly bound. She looked up at her master with eyes that held a mix of gratitude and fear. Gratitude for rescuing her, and fear of the punishment she’d receive for being captured to begin with. She was quite clearly rather afraid of what she was soon to receive from her owner.

<=================>
​

The trio would be traveling to Christian’s new fiefdom together, and that night around a campfire, a shamefaced Keia sat meekly beside her master. She looked as though she wanted to say something, but were afraid of what speaking would bring. It wasn’t that she was afraid of pain, being a masochist and all, but she did fear what he’d do as a result of her failure. She’d disobeyed him then failed in a task in quick succession, and she knew that he was not the kind of man to condone failure.

 

[Christian Vide]

“I know full well that your kind consider contracts binding. I trust that you will uphold your end, just as you may trust that I will uphold mine.”

He nodded naturally. The knights words were true, but Christian wasn't an assassin anymore. His final contract had already been completed.
This wasn't just about his survival anymore, it was about her. And he would play along for as long as this offer/contract keeps both of them alive.

He unbound Keia and followed the knight in stony silence.
The rain let up and finally the day was reduced to a grey overcast evening to the point that building a campfire was possible.
Keia was nervous and her fear palpable, and for good reason. Christian had no anger, therefore he would never punish her out of anger. When he punishes her it's a matter of course, she knows she messed up and deserves punishment... But on his time.

When they stopped to make camp Christian helped set up and got the fire going. Then he knelt Keia down on the damp moss and sat down in front of her with his back facing her
The illusion dropped and the daggers were fully visible now, and trails of fresh blood went down his black coat and dripped in the moss.
"I can't take off my coat till these are removed."
Came his implied request for aid.

 

[Keia Merrenia]

When they stopped to make camp Christian helped set up and got the fire going. Then he knelt Keia down on the damp moss and sat down in front of her with his back facing her
The illusion dropped and the daggers were fully visible now, and trails of fresh blood went down his black coat and dripped in the moss.
"I can't take off my coat till these are removed."
Came his implied request for aid.

Keia realizing that hat the day aggressively were still in his back felt concern overwhelm her fear of punishment. She looked at the daggers with extreme concern. She was no healing mage, and she had very little knowledge of how to heal anything. She looked to the knight. “Do you have any bandages? Any medicines? Please, he’s injured.”

The knight came over and took a look at the daggers, then reached into his belt pouch and brought out a roll of bandages. She and the knight removed the daggers and helped him out of his coat and pulled his shirt up so that bandages may be wrapped around his chest and back. The bleeding was stopped.

Once his injury was handled, Keia returned to her kneeling position beside him. Awaiting her master, and whatever decision he made, or words he spoke.