Private Tales Crouching Urchin, Hidden Templar

A private roleplay only for those invited by the first writer
The candles burned brightly, keeping them warm through the cold night in those moist tunnels. Aldren tried his best to pay attention to the papers, in a vain attempt to figure out whatever was written there, but his eyes kept wandering to the woman at his side as he looked at her sideways. Not to mention Aldren had absolutely no knowledge about ciphers and such. He was better suited to steel and battle, not that.

"True, i'm at a loss here", he said with a small and muffed laugh, glancing at Aleisha again before his eyes were set by a worried look after realizing how tired she was, having worked on those papers ever since they returned from their little heist.

He put his calloused hand on her shoulder with tender care before speaking out with his deep voice, afflicted with worry. "You should get some rest. There's time for that tomorrow."
 
She laughed, a throaty affair, at his concern. "I am not some delicate flower," she said, shifting papers about seemingly at random. "I've been at this work for a long time. The bed is there whenever I am ready for it." She glanced at him, a faint smile on her lips. "Some of us have less...direct lives and work than others. "

She took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. She rubbed a cheek, and looked directly at the man beside her. "Can't help it. It bothers me not knowing the answer to that mystery, and I get what I want. Sooner or later."
 
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Aldren paused, his lips forming into a oh as he realized the nonsense he spout at the fierce woman beside him. Nervously, he tried to steady his messy words into an apology. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to...", his eyes fell down, embarassed. Maybe it was the candlelight gleaming away the darkness, or maybe it was the fact that he was tired and only now was getting a much needed rest, but Aldren clearly felt out of his element.

He glanced over to Aleisha again, inevitably scouring through her lush curves. "You're quite the woman. I just... Sword and blood has been my life for so long. Feels strange to be doing something so different."

Aldren then switched his gaze to the burning candles, checking in on Aleisha's work on the papers a few times.

"Surely there are better things to do than decipher papers all night?"
 
The laugh she gave him was soft, throaty. Seductive in its own way. She set a paper on the table top, and turned to look at the man, eyes dancing over his face as she did. "Every man needs to have a plethora of skills, dear Aldren," she said. She willed his eyes to meet hers. "Can not always be sword and bow, blood and fire. I see what you are doing for the young Mistress, and for the young Master as well. I don't think it is for his sake, though."

She stood a couple feet away, looking into his eyes. "I am sure there are as well," she said, voice low. "But I wouldn't know what those would be. Unless you have a suggestion?"

Some things would be freely offered, she thought to herself, but other things had to be taken.
 
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Aldren smiled, his eyes looking down as he reflected upon Aleisha's words about his purpose there. It's true that he had swore an oath to protect Lyssia and see this undertaking to the end, but he was going past oaths now. He had grown fond of all that mess, if that was even possible. He saw how much they needed him, and his sword arm, to make all things click. Azure and Aleisha were capable enough, and Alric had his own skills, but they were no warriors. They worked the ways of shadows and intrigue, but Aldren faced his opponents head on, steel first. And maybe that was something the villains behind the conspiracy that threatened the D'avores never expected to encounter.

"Alric's a rough man, but not without kindness. He loves his sister and cherishes her in a different way, but they're family nonetheless", he spoke in a low tone, eyes drifting to meet with Aleisha's once again. "And i'm stuck down here anyways. The Royal Guard wants my head as much as hers. I'll be sure to disappoint them, though."

Aldren decided to play his own game with Aleisha, since they certainly had enough time to spare. The night was young.

"But you're a mystery, Aleisha. What's your role in all this?"
 
She kept the smile fixed in place, though it was hard to keep it from deepening. A simple man, and clearly not used to the word play of a woman. That was fine, for it was a game she could be very good at. The trap had been set, after all, in the dark room behind a closed door, the threat of death hanging over them both. The taste of his lips was a distinct memory, one she would have again.

"The Guard want Alric's head on a pike. Hers? They could care less. She is a slip of a girl, impotent and untrained. The world will deal with her, and they know it." She grinned, though. "They were wrong, though they do not know it."

She turned around, resting her rump against the makeshift table, clasping her arms behind her back after brushing straw colored hair from her eyes. "Me?" she asked with feigned innocence.

"You might say I was a bit of a thief, once," she finally added, a look on her face that seemed to portray shock at the notion. "Born on the streets to a whore, leftvto fend for myself. Same sad story that every waif has."

The smile faded a little, though. "I got caught trying to steal from the manor. Noble houses were always a fun challenge. The thrill of the added danger, yeah? I am just common trash, and I knew my life would be forfeit if I was caught "

She closed her eyes, remembering that night well. Sack full of jewelry and gold and silver, making her way down the outside of the building in utter silence while armsmen patrolled the gardens below. Making it down, crossing the entire estate only to find the Duke himself waiting for her, alone and without guard, at her exit point.

"They gave me my life," she said. "Coukd have just had his men slit my throat and throw me in the river. Or worse than that. Instead, he took my spoils from me and offered to take me under his wing, to put my skills to use elsewhere." She looked up at Aldren. "You know, all I had ever wanted in my life before then was to belong somewhere. The family gave me a place to belong. And I'd die for them for that."

She looked up at him through her lashes, eyes serious. "And you?"
 
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Aldren's slight smiles as she told her life's tale seemed to fade as soon as Aleisha asked for his own story, the painful memories circling his head, stinging his heart with venomous strains of angst and sadness that still clung to him after all this time. No matter how hard he tried to push such things back, they always managed to sneak their way back, and remember him of what he was, beneath that facade of noble warrior and mighty knight. A...

"...deserter. My father was a deserter. Before that i was a soldier in the Edenham army. I fled as my unit was killed right in front of me, the monsters barely noticing my cowardly attempt of fleeing", he spoke low, his face showing every inch of sadness as his eyes looked down, as if trying to get away from the shame.

"I was saved by a Templar. He took me under his wings and taught me many things about life, things i had taken for granted in my years before. Until i failed again and he died protecting me."

Aldren's eyes kept fixed on the burning candle, watching it slowly melt away like he hoped those memories would. He clenched his fist as remembered the cursed day that changed his life and set him on that path. A lone hunter, doing his share of good for the world, thinking it would someday pay him and back, so he could earn his redemption.

"Now i travel and i kill things, evil things. Most have wings, sharp fangs or howl at the moon, but this particular monster threatens someone that i now hold dear", his voice now was filled with anger, hard and rough, the only way he knew to not let the memories beat him into depression.

He turned his head, looking deep into Aleisha's eyes as he spoke with confidence and purpose, much more intense than he was before.

"I will not fail this time."
 
She was quiet for a moment, eyes dancing across his face. Trying to take the measure of a man was a trying thing to do, and that was at the best of times.

And these were certainly not those.

"The world is a cruel place, sometimes," she said. The truth of it was plain to see. Here they were, buried in forgotten rooms in the sub basement of a fortress-castle that belonged to a dying monarch of a small, insignificant country. She had lost her life, and thecD'avores had as well. This man before her had suffered as well. "There is only fleeting solace in the company if others. The blessed have more than that, though they tend to live simple lives."

She stepped forward, dangerously close to this man. "Buymt are you a simple man? Could you live a simple life if it meant satisfaction in that life, or are you driven?" She looked back into his eyes, her own earnest, seeking answers to things more substantive than mere idle talk could sate. "Driven to claim your honor, to take what younwant?"
 
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Aldren got a bit surprised as the woman reached closer, far too close for his own sake. It all got silent for a moment after her questions, with only the sound of wood burning at the nearby fireplace echoing through the air. Aldren's gaze fell short of her own, pausing as he pondered on his life's purpose. He was a wanderer, without a clear path and no goal set other than helping the people so that one day he would see himself fit enough to seek out the Templars and truly join the Order.

But satisfaction in a simple life? That wasn't for him, never was. No matter what he endured so far, Aldren always saw himself as more than a simple soldier. In a way, he relished in the path that life had set him upon. He was never a believer of destinies and prophecies, but the would be knight always thought that his current course was the best one, given the circumstances.

What would he be if not that? Living a simple farmer's life alongside his mother? Taking orders from greasy captains and corrupt nobles to take care of common folk whose only crimes were delaying taxes? No... His arm was fit for the sword, and his blade had been made to kill monsters, to purge their blighted existence and provide hope for those too weak to defend themselves, be they human or something else entirely.

As Riss once told him, the Templars were made to be a bulwark of hope for the people. And even though he wasn't a true Templar, that's what he tried to be. In the end, one must always do his duty, no matter what.

"I was never meant for a simple life, much like you", he answered with confidence, eyes now back at looking towards the woman's close face. "I'd have it no other way, and i believe you wouldn't either."

Aldren's fingers reached for her face, slowly caressing her cheek as he smirked slightly. "Although... honor isn't the only thing that drives me."
 
Her face flushed slightly at his touch, but she moved no closer. Her lips parted slightly. "That is where you are wrong," she breathed. "A simple life is one I desire. Kids, a house, good, honest work. But..."

She sighed softly, allowing that touch to send a shiver through her. "But it cannot be. Cannot be. Once you have set foot on the path - warrior, spy, noble, it matters not which - forever shall it haunt you. And then you are left with fleeting happiness. Liaisons that mean little, passing fancies. Nothing that lasts..."
 
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Aldren nodded as his eyes closed, sighing in acceptance of the woman's words. He never thought Aleisha for someone that desired a simple life, not with the way she led her current life, but it was a pleasant surprise. It's good to dream about peaceful days, when one can just lay down their weapons and put the old roguish life behind for quiet days in the countryside, one day after the other with not many worries besides remembering about the stew, lest it heat too much.

"I can understand that. It's not a bad thing to dream of, but that's a dream too far for me", he answered, low tone and his eyes still set on her own, fingers still caressing her cheeks.

"I fear my duty will never know an end, but i shall gladly follow this path nonetheless."
 
"And I mine," she replied, voice low. Throaty. She took his arm in her hand and drew it away from her face, looking unti his eyes as if searching for something. Whatever she saw must have satisfied her, for she drew him closer, until they stood face to face, bodies pressed together.

"Sometimes you have to dream too far," she whispered. "The road ahead is dark and full of danger, and there are never any assurances as to what the future may hold."

She reached up to cup his face in the palm of one hand, tracing the hard planes with her fingers. "Have to enjoy the things you have, while you have them," she added with a touch of mischief in her voice.
 
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Aldren smiled as Aleisha drew herself closer, her soft palm now cupping his face, a caressing touch thoroughly enjoyed by him. He closed his eyes for a moment, his heart pounding hard as the memories from what happened at the building now resurfacing, making his nervous feelings even more anxious, his own body now heating up in expectation. He wasn't a womanizer, and it had been quite some time since he had been with a woman, his most recent intimate moment being with the very same one that was now inches from him, their bodies pressed and intertwined.

The lust was ever tangible as Aldren opened his eyes, staring at the woman. "Life's too fleeting not to enjoy the slightest moments of happiness", he said, having been lost completely to her touches. Aldren leaned in, his lips slowly touching her own as his hands fell to her wrist, his imposing strength now pressing against her small frame as he started to lose his breath.

He slowly pulled away, heart steadying as he looked at her eyes again, a cheeky smile slowly forming on his lips, almost as if he was waiting her opinion on his daring move.
 
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