Private Tales Strange Bedfellows

[Conrad]

It was an odd place to be, so different from home. It was a small town of low wooden buildings and dirt streets. Conrad wasn’t used to the dirtier towns, he’d lived in a castle most of his life, not to say he was spoiled, he’d been trained from the minute he could stand to tolerate discomfort, and to use swords, daggers and his hands to kill things. So the dirt roads and low wooden buildings didn’t bother him, they were just different. And that’s why he was so fascinated with the outside world. He wore a set of plate armor, it’s scratched steel surface gleaming with caught light. A long black cloak was pulled around his broad shoulders, and a deep hood over his head. His face was obscured by a simple mask of steel, no intricate designs, just a smooth round surface with eyeholes.

The longsword at his hip and many daggers would warn away brigands, but it wasn’t brigands that he needed to be weary of. A local baron, a few weeks back, had sworn vengeance on him for having seduced, bedded and fed from his daughter, several times..... every night. It was fun, and he’d bedded many noble daughters before, and rarely had they been caught, but always the taste of the clean, sweet blood of nobility, and the extra smooth texture of female blood was what drew him to have a taste for the daughters of barons and earls, even a Duke or two. But only one who had caught him had actually sworn vengeance, mostly because everyone who had caught him never lived long enough to tell their respective masters. So now he was fairly certain that an assassin was after him, a woman by the smell of her. He had only caught a glimpse or two of the assassin Amalia Rosethorn who was currently hunting him.

Oh this would be fun.

 

[Amalia Rosethorn]

For a lumbering man covered in armor Conrad seemed to move fairly swiftly. A couple things bothered her about this job. A description of a man in armor, supposed to have bed and attacked his daughter. That alone was bothersome. No information on how she was attacked or what had come of her. The other thing that bothered her was how her target had very clearly noticed her but kept pretending to not.

Amalia was confident in her abilities. From man to beast she's killed for coin for almost half a decade now. That confidence was easily coupled with knowing when you were in over your head. This, however, was a more gray scenario.

She hated tracking targets she couldn't see the face of. Generic knight or not it meant they were hiding something if that's how they often carried themselves. The rooftops provided less cover than she'd anticipated and along with that he'd kept walking through the straightaways of this town. Smart, when you were being tracked. Any good assassin wouldn't cause a scene.

She just had to be careful about where he was to lead her. She could just as easily be cornered as she could corner him.

 

[Conrad]

For a lumbering man covered in armor Conrad seemed to move fairly swiftly. A couple things bothered her about this job. A description of a man in armor, supposed to have bed and attacked his daughter. That alone was bothersome. No information on how she was attacked or what had come of her. The other thing that bothered her was how her target had very clearly noticed her but kept pretending to not.

Amalia was confident in her abilities. From man to beast she's killed for coin for almost half a decade now. That confidence was easily coupled with knowing when you were in over your head. This, however, was a more gray scenario.

She hated tracking targets she couldn't see the face of. Generic knight or not it meant they were hiding something if that's how they often carried themselves. The rooftops provided less cover than she'd anticipated and along with that he'd kept walking through the straightaways of this town. Smart, when you were being tracked. Any good assassin wouldn't cause a scene.

She just had to be careful about where he was to lead her. She could just as easily be cornered as she could corner him.

It was a delightful little town. There weren't too many people around, most probably in one of the taverns or inns around the town. There couldn't be much more than three in this town, but it was too big to have less than two. He quickly questioned one of the locals about a taverns whereabouts, and they answered, a little nervously and he could hardly blame them. Se la vi.

Following the local's directions he found a tavern, a nice little place, with music and noise coming from within as the working class turned to drink so that they might forget their day of work, or in the case of travellers, forget about their long journeys. A good place to go and get some food.

He glanced in the direction of the assassin, almost in invitation.

 

[Amalia Rosethorn]

This was strange. A target not only open to the idea of being followed but also adverse to speaking with the one who wants to kill him. Well, money talked. If he had more than the client than that's all she needed to know.

She hopped elegantly from the rooftop beside someone else entering the tavern. He looked frightened and so she tossed him a devil's smile. The man said nothing and continued inside without looking back.

Amalia stepped inside, walking passed Conrad with a finger beckoning him to follow.

"What, are you just going to stand there?"

 

[Conrad]

This was strange. A target not only open to the idea of being followed but also adverse to speaking with the one who wants to kill him. Well, money talked. If he had more than the client than that's all she needed to know.

She hopped elegantly from the rooftop beside someone else entering the tavern. He looked frightened and so she tossed him a devil's smile. The man said nothing and continued inside without looking back.

Amalia stepped inside, walking passed Conrad with a finger beckoning him to follow.

Conrad smiled at Amalia as she hopped down from the roof and entered the tavern with him. The finger beckoning him to follow was a little too commanding for him to like, but that wasn’t important. What was important, was that now they’d have a chance to speak.

He entered after her, holding the door open for her like a proper gentleman, and removed his smooth steel mask as they came in to reveal a Well chiseled and angular face, a little brutish but not ugly. Thin lips curled upward into a mischievous and devilish smirk. Handsome in an ‘I will own you’ kind of way.

"What, are you just going to stand there?"

“No,” he said with a smirk of his own. “Thought I’d buy you a drink. Talk. Get to know you. There’s no harm in being civil is there?”

He walked up to the bar and ordered a beer, then turning to her he said, “what can I get you beautiful? Wine? Ale? Maybe some food?”

 

[Amalia Rosethorn]

This man was full of surprises. She took a two-seater table for the both of him while she watched and listened. He was a bit handsome. Makes sense for the sake of him having bedded a higher class daughter. Yet there was still more he was hiding.

"Wine," She smiled. "Red and expensive, if you don't want it thrown in your face." She offered him a taunting wink. And unlike him, she did not remove her kitsune mask. She crossed her legs and waited patiently.

Like prior, money talked. If he thought flattery would keep his throat in tact than he'd be in for a few surprises himself.

 

[Conrad]

“Someone with a sweeter taste are you? Well then,” he turned and placed her order, then returned his gaze to her. “Now I assume that you know my name, but I do not know yours. Care to share with me that information? Or is it classified beyond my pay grade?”

He noticed the wink, and he recognized the use of seduction when he saw it. If she thought that was going to help her, she was dead wrong. He knew how to use seduction himself, heck his strain of vampirism depended on it to get food. So her charms would be useless in this little dance.

”But in the case that you don’t know, my name is Conrad.”

The drinks were delivered, and he paid with a number of gold coins, and she’d spy a bigger pouch on his hip, under his coat. Money did indeed spoke, but there couldn’t be more than what she had already been paid in there.

 

[Amalia Rosethorn]

"Actually, I didn't know that. Seeing as the client couldn't give me the information himself." She smirked and sipped her wine. It was fine. Nothing amazing but drinkable.

"You sure did make a ruckus before you turned tail, Conrad. Made quite a few unhappy. And killed a young maiden? Now what kind of man does such a thing?" Her smile did not falter.

"As for me you certainly wouldn't have the coin to bed me, let alone get to know the name of the last woman you'll see in this world. However you were correct in pegging me as someone who'd... Play along." She circled the top of her wine glass with one finger as she rested her head in her other hand, batting her eyelashes both flirtatiously and menacingly.

"My guess is you figured one of two things when you invited me in here. One being that you might be able to talk me down from my attempt on your life. However I listen to he who has the heaviest pocket. While yours is far from modest it still..." She shook her hand back and forth. "...Lacks."

"The other idea being that you could potentially kill me. Which isn't an impossibility. Every good assassin should know their limits. I don't feel that with you, though. I truly don't believe you could best me."

 

[Conrad]

"You sure did make a ruckus before you turned tail, Conrad. Made quite a few unhappy. And killed a young maiden? Now what kind of man does such a thing?" Her smile did not falter.

That made him look up with surprise. "Kill her? No, I never killed her. I don't kill my food, especially not when they're so willing. I imagine that she either died soon after I left, or you were just told that she died. Either way, I'll be having a few words with our dear baron once our business is concluded."

"As for me you certainly wouldn't have the coin to bed me, let alone get to know the name of the last woman you'll see in this world. However you were correct in pegging me as someone who'd... Play along." She circled the top of her wine glass with one finger as she rested her head in her other hand, batting her eyelashes both flirtatiously and menacingly.

He rolled his eyes, "please, you are neither a woman I'd want to bed, nor the last woman I will see. As far as playing along, this is no game. I honestly wished to speak."

"My guess is you figured one of two things when you invited me in here. One being that you might be able to talk me down from my attempt on your life. However I listen to he who has the heaviest pocket. While yours is far from modest it still..." She shook her hand back and forth. "...Lacks."

"The other idea being that you could potentially kill me. Which isn't an impossibility. Every good assassin should know their limits. I don't feel that with you, though. I truly don't believe you could best me."

"Wrong on both accounts. I brought you in here for some conversation before I outrun you. You may be an assassin but still only mortal. I do not tire, nor do I run so slow as you humans. And the fact that you don't believe me capable of beating you, that is either arrogance or stupidity. There is always a chance, always a way. I could best you just as easily as you can best me, your strength lies in experience, mine in endurance. So I'm afraid that if you cannot turn that experience to your advantage, you will fail. I have no intention of killing you though, such a pretty face should remain alive and unscarred."

 

[Amalia Rosethorn]

She listened intently to what he had to say in response. A nerve struck, or he was tired of the argumentative side of things. The only words that truly resonated with her was the idea that he wasn't human and he fed.

Ah. It was much clearer. The client thought it much easier to state that his daughter had been killed by some ruffian rather than explain how a vampire found its way into her sheets. Hopefully the daughter wasn't killed in fear that she would be turned.

She sat back in her chair with her glass held at breast line. Her smile softening a bit.

"These were admittedly assumptions. It's not often a target wishes to speak with me without ulterior motive. In truth, it's never happened, creature of the night." Another wink.

"But I don't imagine you invited me in here to say nothing. I've said my piece, now before we return to me driving a stake through your chest, speak what you will."

 

[Conrad]

He laughed. “Oh child. You don’t understand, I brought you here to better understand you. And now that I do, perhaps I might suggest something to you that may resolve our little problem without death to one of us, and permanent debilitation to the other. I work mercenary jobs to keep my pouch full, if you were to remain patient. Perhaps I could pay you an equal amount as he has.”

“If not, well then this will be your last mission, regardless of success rate.”

 

[Amalia Rosethorn]

She attempted to stifle a chuckle. Understand her? She didn't understand herself half the time. The stifle didn't work. She laughed back at him. Uproariously. People in the tavern turned from their conversation to look at the woman with her psychotic laughter. Her head was reeled back and her wine spilling.

Oh, how she adored being threatened.

When she shot her head forward again, all semblance of beauty was gone from her eyes. They weren't the disciplined eyes of a killer nor the collected one of a seducing woman. They were obsessive, insane. A horrible concoction of happiness and murderous intent.

Absolute, unfiltered madness.

The assassin showed her true colors at any slight remark about the taking of her life.

"Child this, pretty face that." Her voice whimsical and terrifying. "You might be considered attractive if it weren't for your chastising words and inability to sense the threat in front of you. You forget, don't you? Why would I accept payment I've already received when I could take it off your cold dead flesh? I guess your flesh is already cold isn't it, freak?"

She slammed her glass down, shattering it instantly. As the conversation became more and more heated the patrons of the bar started to exit slowly. Even the barkeep could sense the tension and made himself scarce. Some were far too drunk to care and just watched the fireworks.

It would be obvious to anyone in this moment the truth of Amalia. She was sick. Very sick. Something missing in her synapses. A chord in her brain worn far too thin. Either life or cruel fate brought this woman to a place of unfixable madness and bloodlust.

The clawed gauntlet she wore on her hand shoved its nails through the table as she leaned in closer to Conrad.

"Shall we see ourselves outside?"

 

[Conrad]

The clawed gauntlet she wore on her hand shoved its nails through the table as she leaned in closer to Conrad.

"Shall we see ourselves outside?"

He never lost his calm smile, and looking down at the clawed gauntlet lodged in the table he shook his head with tsks. "Not a very wise place to put those child."

With speed only those who were supernatural could muster, the table was flipped forward, which would bend her fingers and hand back and either force her to follow through with it, break her fingers or slip her hand from the gauntlet. Then the table, still airborne, was kicked forward viciously, which meant she had to move out of the way or knock it down.

No matter how fast her reaction, she was still only mortal, and he had been trained with a sword from as young an age as five, his training equal in intensity to her own. And in the open, close combat and with his armor on, he had the upper hand on training alone, not to mention supernatural speed, strength and the fact that vampires in general were impervious to toxins of any kind.

She was an assassin, trained for stealth and espionage killing against unaware foes. He was trained to fight from the beginning of his undead life, as he was a born vampire, and a place like this, even with some obstacles, was closer to his home turf than hers. All advantages laid with him there, and she was deranged and feral, wild, which in turn meant that she'd leave herself more vulnerable to attacks. If she were smart, she'd try to lure him elsewhere to a place more suited to her type of combat.

"Good try little fox, but you'll need to do far better if you want to scare me."

 

[Amalia Rosethorn]

There were few things incorrect. Humans were always considered more frail than most of the other races that existed on this moon. A belief and a thought that led many to rise, and an equal amount to fall.

Amalia was a child of Shadokien, and spent most her days in Vel Anir. Both cities in the Allir Reach that allowed humans to reach heights none would have thought possible.

She was far from an exception.

As the table flung high into the air a sound of spreading crackles emerged in the air. While she was caught off guard by the kick, her hand was exactly where it needed to be. The table froze over immediately and exploded into chunks of ice, and reformed beneath her as she fell into a frozen throne.

She looked irate. This due to him attacking her when she so politely asked him to step outside and also because he dared judge her unworthy.

"Your underestimation will be the death of you."

Four sharpened and giant icicles broke from her throne, all aimed at Conrad's heart.

Her hand lazily motioned his way.

"Fetch." As she spoke that, the icicles shot forward. Aiming to skewer Conrad into the nearest wall.

 

[Conrad]

Four sharpened and giant icicles broke from her throne, all aimed at Conrad's heart.

Her hand lazily motioned his way.

"Fetch." As she spoke that, the icicles shot forward. Aiming to skewer Conrad into the nearest wall.

Frozen wood, pathetic. Each shard shattering against the enchanted steel of his chestpiece. He looked at her with a raised brow. "Is that all. Are you sure it is I that made the underestimation?"

He drew from the sheath at his hip the longsword of silvery steel, well made, well maintained and in experienced hands. He placed the flat of the blade on his shoulder, both hands on the hilt and assumed a wide forward stance, if she knew anything about the basic guards of longswords, she'd recognise this as wrath guard. It allowed for very fast reactions, meant to interrupt attacks, hit first, or deflect a blow while leading into a follow up strike with equal if not greater speed. It was quite an aggressive guard stance to assume.

"Now little fox, fetch it yourself like a good girl."

 

[Amalia Rosethorn]

Amalia's eye twitched in frustration. Being toyed with was not her favorite. With her movements being wild and attacks unfocused due to her fury she very unlikely had the upper hand here. She realized this herself but that was the problem with her.

Her health, mentally, was so decrepit it always led her to a place of ill fate. That did not prevent her from pushing forward however. As was the curse of insanity.

She reached into her cloak and stood up from her thrown. A short three sticks with a blade all placed horizontally. Ice began to form small barriers around her vitals.

Amalia snapped the sticks forward. Click. Click. Click. Shhhhhing. She held an enormous but very light looking scythe in her hands. She walked slowly towards Conrad as the ice continued to arrive to protect her.

 

[Conrad]

He moved with blinding speed, his sword coming down in a broad, lightning fast arc meant to cleave through her from shoulder to hip. His broad bladed sword might not cut into her through the ice, but it would definite break the brittle armor and force her to stagger. If dodged, it would make him follow through with the momentum to attack more speedily and keep her on the defensive. If her scythe were made of normal wood, he might cleave it in half without difficulty, but he was fairly certain that it was reinforced in some way and wouldn’t have a hard time cutting through.

His smile never left his face, and he kept his eyes on hers. Like the case with most duels, wild flailing was equivalent to suicide against a well trained opponent. Grappling was also a bad idea, as longswords were well suited to such combat and anyone with one at the very least knew how to grapple with their swords. Her best shot was to maneuver around and get behind him.