Private Tales Forastero

[Kishou]

"Afternoon is still quite early, no?" Kishou said with a sharp chuckle and gently bumped the ceramic bottle against his companion. "The children and their sweets- us and our drink. Many things go on without Mameha's knowing, don't you think?"

He leaned a bit heavier against Amore and let out a deep sigh. "I'm glad to see you again."

 

[Amorea Delarosa]

Hands dry, she gently took the bottle in both and made a face, "Oh but not just the drink," and she tipped it up to her lips for a small sip to test the potency. Not so bad - but she might've been getting used to sake now that she'd been partaking in moderation nearly every evening while dining with the tea house high profile guests.

"I am not allowed to spend time alone with men at all. Mameha's rules..." and another sip to follow in earnest before she passed it back to him, "but I am glad to be seen." Amore sighed, claiming his near arm with her own and snuggling against his shoulder, "And I have missed you. What have they got you so busy with I wonder."

 

[Kishou]

"To breaking Mameha's rules," Kishou toasted as he took the bottle back from Amore and helped himself to two large gulps. His cheeks warmed as she clung tighter to him. His heart thundered. A smile painted over his features.

"Oh, well, this and that," he took another smaller sip. "There is lots to do during the day. And they seem to find endless things for me to do during the evening. Urging rowdy clients out and keeping the riff-raff away."

While not a lie, it was far from the truth. He wasn't keen to reveal what he was primarily tasked with during the long nights.

 

[Amorea Delarosa]

"Mm," she hummed at his side in thought, "well they have certainly cleaned you up nicely for such a job."

If only she really knew. All she could go by was his scent and the feel of clean robes, "I hope they are at least treating you well. All the better that you are safe rather than you taking on bounties and risking your life."

"What color am I wearing?" she asked then, "I've been dressed and redressed so much I can hardly tell what I'm wearing anymore. So much lovely material and I don't even know what it looks like."

 

[Kishou]

"Right, they have, haven't they?" Kishou chuckled into the bottle as he took yet another sip. "You know, I think I would still prefer taking bounties... Maybe."

He again leaned his head against hers. "Blue," he smiled, "it's my favorite color. On your first night, they also had you in blue. Yellow the next. Purple and white last night."

She had looked lovely up there on that stage. But sitting here now with her, seeing her without the result of hours spent molding her appearance to meet the teahouse's standard, he thought she was much lovelier like this.

 

[Amorea Delarosa]

Amore felt her appreciation for his notice broaden and warm her smile. So he had seen. Here she had thought he'd not even been present, but at least during those nights she had been seen by someone and not simply just watched, gawped and stared at. "Thank you," she lightly squeezed his arm, "I ask Una but I cannot always understand her."

One night she had only picked up the word 'birds' and had not realized that her kimono featured a splendid scene of two herons dancing in the water.

"Do I look ...strange in these kimonos? Out of place? I overheard one of the patrons saying as much the other night," she settled in against his shoulder quite comfortably now, "I guess my red hair is a bit of a shock to them."

 

[Kishou]

"Out of place... maybe. Strange? Not in the slightest. I think they are just surprised by your beauty." He smiled. "To these people, the world is this small nation on this small island. They can't begin to imagine how far the earth spans and the different kinds of people that live on it."

Kishou breathed a chuckle, "I couldn't either until I saw it all with my own eyes. A wonderous world, with wondrous creations and wondrous people." The swordsman closed his eyes. The Priestess' warmth was such a comforting thing that he could have soundly drifted to sleep. "But none so wondrous as you."

 

[Amorea Delarosa]

Amore blushed - faintly at first with a pale pinking of her cheeks, but it grew to match the hue of her hair as Kishou continued speaking. Where had this doting come from, she wondered? Kishou had always been kind with her ... not counting the kidnapping ... but never so forward and openly complimentary. Was he ... flirting?

He closed his eyes in the moments that the flush of her face grew a faint, iridescent glow. Ethereal, radiating a gentle warmth, and absolutely magical in nature. But -

["Be careful little Rose,"] a cadre of Yisha and other tea house workers were walking by inside the house, passing the doorway through which they sat beyond, ["the Dragon might take a bite!"]

Amore blinked, sitting up slightly from his shoulder to turn her head, straining to hear the words through the laughter.

["That Dragon's too worn out from being ridden all week, eh Kishou?"]

["Did you hear Lady Koa ask to Ride the Dragon last night?"]

["Hahahaha - ride the dragon -"] the laughter persisted as they walked on.

Amore felt her smile fading, the glow having vanished, "What ... are they talking about?"

 

[Kishou]

The sudden appearance of the workers had startled him. He jumped where he sat and whipped his head around to watch as they passed by. He could do nothing but listen and his cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"I," his grip had tightened on the bottle, "guess they have taken to calling us by nicknames. Who, who knows what they could mean."

Though he knew all too well what they had meant, and thinking that customers would henceforth request the Dragon only caused his shame to flare.

"Well, it's probably best to just ignore them. Rumors will spread when an odd pair like us appears out of thin air and throws the teahouse into chaos." Over the years, Kishou had many an opportunity to cooly talk his way out of uncomfortable situations. Over the years, he'd never been particularly successful with it. "Yeah, better off ignoring them."

 

[Amorea Delarosa]

Brow furrowed, Amore let the frown slide into place on her lips. Something about that entire exchange felt off and she couldn't be sure if it was Kishou or the group. Sneering and jeering had been common for her with the other Yisha and she was mostly able to ignore that. But for Kishou? It didn't make sense that he would be treated the same way. He wasn't the outsider playing at being something he was not.

"Mm," she settled back down against his shoulder, "as you say. Only a week left. Now, are you guzzling all that sake or are you going to keep sharing?"

 

[Kishou]

"Finally acquiring a taste for it, hm?" He playfully bumped the bottle against her arm with a cheeky smirk.

Only a week. Those words echoed in the back of his mind until they separated, and then again as he was put to work again the next day. It seemed word of the Dragon began to spread much like the Rose. An exotic foreigner with an appearance like none had ever seen before and a dangerous and exciting (as Kei had deemed it fit to advertise) male pleasurer called many new clients to the White Orchid.

Anxiety filled the swordsman the longer he went without sharing so much as a word with Amore. He could withstand the comments made about him as he walked the halls. The rumors, too. What ate at the swordsman was not knowing exactly how much his companion knew.

Servicing the evening clientele began to take its toll on Kishou, as it seemed each night brought in folks more eccentric and unusual than the last, whose demands towards the swordsman only
wore on his body. Mameha prepared many unpleasant-tasting tonics and brews to keep his energy up. He was tended to thoroughly by the attendants, and it came to be that there wasn't a single crevice on him that they were unfamiliar with.

 

[Amorea Delarosa]

It was the second to the last night of Amore's planned performance schedule, and while she'd suspected that her flavor of entertainment would grow boring quickly she hadn't been prepared for how much the crowds would grow. The seating hall had to be opened and expanded out into the courtyard, weather providing, to make space for the many new patrons that arrived from near and far. The Chairman attended each night, keeping his own seat on reserve at the very front, just by the stage. As a good friend to Master Kei, he was plenty happy to contribute.

But this night Master Kei was away. Things had been going very smoothly for the Tea House and the money was pouring in with his latest investments. He was looking to make connections with more off-land traders that might get him in contact with more foreign talent ... after all, he knew Amore would not be staying for much longer. Had to ride the surge of excitement while he could.

Amore finished her piece to uproarious applause and, after getting Kei's permission and insistence earlier in the week, played two encore songs. Afterward it was paramount that she dine with the patrons and greet the new faces, sign her posters, and keep her fans happy. It was quite late when Mameha excused the Singing Rose from the crowd and took her back to the dressing room to undo the many layers of material and makeup and decoration from the evening.

Without Kei's keen eyes keeping watch, whispers among the crowd traveled and a Yisha, her face hidden behind her fan, giggle and whispered in the ear to a man who had been making lustful comments about the Rose all evening to his friends.

The timing had been exceptionally unfortunate ... or perhaps particularly perfect, depending on who you were. Mameha and the attendants left Amore to her personal quarters with hot tea and incense burning to help sooth her throat and her senses. Mameha being the second in command, returned to the patrons to keep the cash flowing. The man waited until Mameha was busy gossiping with some new customers and, at the Yisha's direction, slipped through the back door and into the hall that lead back to the many private rooms of the Yisha.

Only he didn't go there unnoticed. A pair of dark, glassy eyes watched from a stairway leading to the second floor. Una, having snuck a bit more food from the kitchens when no one was looking, watched as the man prowled quietly down the hall, peeking into the rooms, and suddenly became alarmed that Amore was down there on her own. She quickly slipped away, taking another route to the dining hall where she tried to get in to tell Mameha but the attendants watching the doors would not let her by and shunned her back to bed.

So Una went in search for the only other person she trusted on the grounds: Kishou.

 

[Kishou]

Kishou comfortably laid on his side. Next to him sprawled out on the futon laid the Lady Koa, a renowned seamstress that had dealings with every notable within Kozai. Even the castle's Lord, whose taste for fine wear was especially particular, was a regular patron. The swordsman traced the curves of the woman's heaving chest with a cold gaze. Lady Koa's glossy eyes drowsily swung over to the swordsman, whose taut physique was slick with sweat, and she shivered.

"Are you cold?" Kishou asked with a tone of indifference.

"No," lithe fingers traced a scar over his shoulder, and where the scar stopped she continued to follow the contour of his collarbone, "the way you look at me is exciting."

"I don't think you're particularly special," he said. "And yet you're excited?"

"Very."

Kishou's features twisted up at this strange woman who lusted for his disinterested attitude towards her. His blatant dissatisfaction seemed to urge her on, and slender arms wrapped around the Dragon's neck.

Just then, the sliding door was pushed open. Una peeked her young head into the room. Both she and Lady Koa let out a gasp. The seamstress pulled the silk sheets over her body.

"Sir Kishou!" Una averted her eyes and called out.

"Una, you know you're not allowed to be here at these hours."

"Y-yes! My deepest apologies... But..." Her expression was ridden with anxiety.

"Out with it, girl," Kishou sat up.

"It's Amo, Sir Kishou." Una swallowed hard and mustered what little courage filled her tiny heart to meet his eyes, "She is in danger."

"Take me," He said without a moment of waste and sprung to his feet. He grabbed his yukata which, much to his chagrin, was embroidered with a rising dragon, and hastily threw it on as he followed the Yisha-in-training out of the room.

 

[Amorea Delarosa]

["A man was in the hall,"] Una said meekly, ["I would have yelled at him to go away but he was big and scary."]

Una had proven to be quite the spitfire, they had discovered, and intrepid to boot. She'd learned the schedule of the attendants in the Tea House to such perfection that she knew exactly when was best to sneak to the kitchens for sweets, or the garden to collect flowers for Amore, or the well to get Kishou fresh water. Not only that, but she weathered the temper of Matsu like a granite stone and knew how best to work Mameha to keep the old woman happy. Una had never shied away from the men here, so this one must have made an impression.

["Miss Amo is alone, Mameha went back to the hall - they would not let me in. Children are not allowed."]

To see it from the outside, the White Orchid did not look all that expansive from the entrance. But the truth was it was a rather large building with multiple levels that expanded around a great courtyard garden. The Yisha's living quarters were kept toward the back where they had privacy. It was a long walk, but Una was moving with haste. They could hear the loud din of talk and laughter from the main hall, the sound echoed across the grounds easily now that the side panels had been opened for more space.

Loud enough that the disturbance in Amore's room went unnoticed.

As they got closer they could hear it - the sound of a teapot breaking against the floor and muffled yelps of Amore. When they arrived it was to the hulking shadow of the man pinning Amore to the floor, who struggled against the hand around her throat that choked her attempts to call for help. For all the strength and power she had as a Priestess, she could not fend off his ravaging.

 

[Kishou]

"You did well in finding me," Kishou said between sharp huffs. His strides were long, and it took no effort to keep up with the young girl's skipping steps. Yet his breathing was unsteady, and his heart thundered in his chest.

As the teapot shattered, Kishou rushed past Una towards Amore's room. He followed the sounds of struggle to its source and threw the door open. The sliding door slamming against its frame announced Kishou's presence.

One step. A second. The swordsman loomed over the man and seized the back of his kimono with both hands to yank him off but only managed to pull him upright. Kishou was shaken off with ease as the man rose to his feet. The swordsman fell on his rear and was now the one being loomed over.

The man was nearly as tall as Kishou but more than twice as wide. He had a pudgy face, and his topknot was styled in the fashion of a wrestler's.

Just as the swordsman clambered to his feet, he was grabbed by his collar and slung across the room and, as he stumbled, tripped over the table in the middle of the room. He again landed on his rear, and as the wrestler stomped towards him, Kishou kicked the table towards his shin. Wood met shinbone, and the man cried out in pain. Kishou leaped to his feet and charged into the wrestler, hooking his own leg behind the stranger's to trip him onto his back.

Kishou, now mounted atop the beast of a man, curled his fist and angrily slammed it down against the wrestler's face in violent succession.

 

[Amorea Delarosa]

Una arrived moments after Kishou went on the aggressive, watching wide-eyed from the doorway as he heaved the beastly man off Amore and tore his attention away from her.

Amore sucked air through her throat and into her burning lungs, gasping while she slowly tried to scramble away and regain her barings. Her kimono was torn from her shoulders as well as from around her legs, and the hanging strips caught beneath her feet. Though her face was red, Una could see the streaks of tears lining her cheekbones. The young girl held back in fright, but saw the opportunity to get to Amore as the large man tossed Kishou across the room. Dodging in around the edges, she collapsed to Amore's side. The Priestess yelped in surprise, a frightened hand coming up to defend herself.

["Amo it is me! Una! Come, come with me-"] Una grabbed at her arm and yanked at her, helping the blind and winded woman to her feet to lead her out of the room, ["We have to get Mameha! MAMEHA!"]

And Una dragged her, yelling for the Tea House's Matron the whole way to the dining hall while Kishou wrestled with the assailant.

 

[Kishou]

A large meaty hand swatted at Kishou's face, but he brought his shoulder up to block it. Still, it rocked the swordsman and earned a deep grunt from him. A second came from the opposite direction and hit him against his cheek, just inside of his ear. The room in front of him swirled. The side of his face stung, and a red print grew there. Kishou was pushed off, and both men groaned as they struggled to stand. The wrestler, a particularly high ranking and renowned one, gingerly prodded at his broken nose. Blood dripped onto his kimono and all over the tatami floor. Kishou wobbled on his feet, but both men faced each other and took their stances. The wrestler was low, with his knees bent and chest low to the ground. Kishou stood with one foot in front of the other and leaned forward, his shoulders lining up with his front knee. His forward arm was extended out, and his other was tucked close to his chest.

The men sized each other up for a moment, both remaining extremely still, and beads of sweat rolled over their brows. The wrestler was the first to move and charged at the swordsman with explosive speed. Kishou sharply exhaled and, using his front arm as a post against the oncoming wrestler, quickly shuffled around to the side of the wrestler's leading leg.

As the wrestler planted down and all of his weight shifted onto his lead foot, Kishou delivered a swift kick with the ball of his foot to the outside of the man's knee. He hadn't missed a beat, and the kicked combined with the full weight of the wrestler's massive body caused his knee to bend in, and in, and in until it folded completely. The tendon of his kneecap ripped. The ligaments that held the rest of the knee together tore apart splendidly, and the wrestler crumpled to the floor, holding his knee and howling in pain.

Kishou, the clear victor, pounced on the defeated assailant and delivered a thorough beating.

As Mameha arrived with a group of male workers in tow, they would find Kishou panting as he sat atop the wrestler's motionless body, whose face was swollen and bloody. The side of the swordsman's hand was slick with blood, and a crimson splatter painted over the now-bruised side of his face.

 

[Amorea Delarosa]

Amore was confined to Mameha's private quarters for the evening, under hired guard and attended to by the area's best Doctor. The Tea House closed early that night, bidding its patrons return in two days, once the damage control had been handled and Kei had returned. Mameha was ... surprisingly empathetic with Amore and grateful with Kishou, making the comment that she had asked Kei to hire standing guards some time ago when the crowds had first begun to grow.

Of course she'd been more concerned about thieves than she had about ravagers, but perhaps the evening's attack had shifted her thoughts on the matter.

["She is traumatized, of course,"] Mameha answered Kishou's inquiry to Amore's state while the Doctor tended to his bruises with poultice, ["he nearly crushed her throat, not least of all the rest of her. She will not be able to sing for the closing act. Pity, but she will heal. If it weren't for you and...Una,"] Mameha glanced toward the doorway where Una's shadow quickly skittered out of view, ["who knows how much more damage he would have done."]

 

[Kishou]

"I have to see her," Kishou said after a lengthy silence. The Doctor had begun tending to the side of his hand, which had been cut by the wrestler's teeth as Kishou had hammered his fist down onto his face. Between the two was a washbin, the water reddened from blood. A cloth soaked in the water. He could see his surroundings clearly now and thought of many things now that his mind cleared up.

"I don't think now is..." Mameha began, but Kishou's glare, cold as steel, cut her words down. The teahouse's Mother softly cleared her throat and nodded. After he was treated, Mameha showed him the way. The guards outside were dressed in black kimonos and wore swords. One man was bald and had a long scar across his face.

"If you would apologize to Lady Koa on my behalf," Kishou whispered to Mameha, "I stormed out and left her alone. Sorry for the trouble it may cause."

The woman just shook her head and urged him towards the doors. The guards stepped aside to let Kishou past. As he stepped in, they gently slid the door shut behind him.

"Amore," he called to her.

 

[Amorea Delarosa]

Amore sat by the table in the eating area of Mameha's room, tended to by Una who was quietly cutting fruit into small pieces. Tea sat steaming in a mug in Amore's hands which rested in her lap. Her hair had been braided in the way she usually kept it with the addition of a small white flower just by her ear - likely put there by Una - and it revealed the gauze wrapped around her neck that kept the poultice flush against the ugly bruise forming there.

She didn't look up when Kishou called to her and instead looked away to hide the tears that had suddenly welled up in her eyes now that he was here. Amore abandoned her tea cup to the table to bring her hands to her face and openly cried into them.

Una looked up from where she sat, frowning deeply and uncertain of what to do. She glanced to Kishou with some look of hope that he might know before returning dutifully to preparing Amore's food.

 

[Kishou]

Kishou's lips trembled as he stood frozen by the door, helplessly looking on as his precious companion wept. He swallowed back a lump and quietly shuffled to her side. He politely knelt close to her, facing her. A gentle hand rubbed a circle in the middle of her back.

"I," his gaze flickered to the fruit that Una prepared, then back to Amore, "I'm sorry."

She had only wept one other time in front of him, in the carriage so long ago. However, the reason for her tears was so, so different now. Before, he was able to offer some words of encouragement but found none now. He stopped rubbing her back and slowly pulled her into a tight embrace.

 

[Amorea Delarosa]

Amore had never felt so helpless in her life, but perhaps she should have felt this way all along. Ever since that island, she'd overestimated the chances of regaining her power and her strength. What if this was a sign that it would never happen? That she would live out the rest of her days incapable of defending herself, let alone those she cared for? To live without her sight was something she had prepared to manage, but to live without her strength?

What would she do then?

Retire to the Monastery - that had been the word of the High Priest as a potential outcome. To spend her days praying, speaking scriptures, playing witness to the blessings by the other active Priests. To grow old and forgotten, to never amount to anything more. No home beyond the Monastery, no family beyond her Church, no life beyond her Faith. It wasn't an outcome Amore wanted. Especially not now that she had this blemish on her purity - no one would look at her the same.

"I thought it was you," she shuddered through her tears, actively fighting the flinch her body offered as Kishou wrapped his arms around her, "I thought it was you, stopping to say goodnight since Mameha wasn't there. But then his smell-" Amore grimaced into Kishou's robe, the shudder morphing into an full-body tremble, "I tried to get away but I couldn't. He was too strong."

The sob that escaped her sent her into full tremors and Amore curled into Kishou's warmth like an abused dog seeking refuge and comfort in the only one it trusted.

 

[Kishou]

Kishou hadn't intended for this. When he pried her away from her friends- her family- he had told himself it was because they could regain what was lost in her. His gamble and hopes ultimately yielded nothing but a broken, suffering young woman. This, all of this was to heal her, not to leave her with more scars. His stomach twisted as he recalled something Amore had said to him long ago.

"What bothers you more, that I will never see again or that once we return, you will never see me again?"

"I'm sorry," was all he could manage as he blinked back the sting of welling tears. "It'll be okay now," he assured her? Himself? "He- nobody will lay a hand on you again." Could he promise that, as he had promised to find a treatment for her condition? As he had promised that they would restore her power and sight? Or would she suffer more, and would he break yet another promise to her?

For now, Kishou could do nothing more than hold her close.

 

[Amorea Delarosa]

Amore had never cried terribly much throughout her life. Always taught that the days she was given were a gift and a blessing, and what pain or suffering might come with them was the balance of all things working itself out. Compared to most, she had not suffered a great deal in her few decades on Arethil. Compared to others, she had suffered quite a great deal. Becoming a Priestess was not simply something handed to her, but earned and learned and practiced and perfected.

So when the blindness struck her, she told herself it was the balance paid for her great power and great strength. Then when both of those things left her as well she told herself it was the balance paid for her many countless blessings.

Now Amore wasn't so sure that the balance was unbiased. Or that there was balance and fair pricing for anything. So she cried because she was confused and she cried because she was angry. She cried for all the moments she'd held the tears back because it felt wrong to let them fall.

Couldn't say how long they sat there like that, but the morning sun was well on its way. Luna had excused herself to bed and Mameha had given them both her quarters, opting to stay in with the Yisha for the evening. At some point Amore spoke her desire to try and sleep, but that she didn't want him to leave.

"I want to leave," she told him quietly while curled up beside him on the bedroll, "I can't stay here another night after this."

 

[Kishou]

The dish of fruit that Una had left sat empty next to the bedroll, but Amore hadn't touched any of it. Throughout the night, Kishou had eaten what was there.

"Okay," he whispered, "we'll leave."

They could travel to the end of the world, but he thought that no matter how far they went, she would never forget this day. That thought stung more than the wrestler's giant palm. It hurt deeper than any wound he'd ever gotten.

Kishou laid on his back and stared at the ceiling until light poured through the partition door from the courtyard. They hadn't spoken much at all after agreeing to leave, and he wondered if she'd slept at all.