Private Tales Take the risk or lose the chance

[Varys]

Varys slept better than he had in months. He wasn't sure whether it was being surrounded by the fresh air of his homeland after years spent traveling, the fact that he'd finally found some semblance of a purpose in his life since then, or the presence of his apprentice nearby. No matter the cause, when he roused from his slumber he felt completely rejuvenated. It was worth the long drive for this bed, that much was certain.

Opening his mouth in a long yawn, the elf rolled onto his side to face the sleeping woman beside him. He hadn't suspected she'd try anything, but it was still a relief to see her resting. Varys hadn't voiced just how worried he'd been about her yesterday... but there was a moment when he'd worried she'd completely emptied herself of energy. Not many could come back from something like that.

She had though, and she would be stronger for it once she recovered. Varys didn't consider himself a religious sort, but he thanked whatever gods were listening for her survival. Lottie was more than his apprentice; she was one of his only friends. The shame he would bear for losing her would have crushed him to dust.

A hand reached out to the sleeping girl brushing some of her hair out of her face. The only sound in the room was the muffled sound of birds and the city outside, but Varys focused on her breathing.

It was silly... Only a few years ago he'd been the one who needed guidance.

How much did Lottie remember about their talk at the lake back then? Did she realize how much it had meant to him? He was nothing but a young homeless elf who'd been swept off the street and away from his city for the first time in his life only weeks prior. In her, he'd found the first connection with another he'd ever made.

It was a connection he'd clung to. Varys had thought of her every day on his travels, wondering what she was doing, if she'd thought of him too. In his darkest moments, he'd imagined returning to see her again. At that lake, under the setting sun, there was no danger, or people who wanted him dead. It was the safe haven he could retreat to in his own mind.

Clinging onto that memory, Varys supposed, had incubated love for her in his heart.

Lottie would shift in her sleep, and Varys quickly drew his hand back. Suddenly he heard the birds again, the muted voices outside. His skin was warm with the morning sunlight peeking through the glass. Gah, there was no time to be getting emotional. If he'd wanted things to be different, he could have changed them. Sitting up and swinging his legs off the bed to slide out of his old trousers and change into a fresh set, he leaned back in a stretch.

Varys could have stayed with her back then, tried to make things work in Oban. It had been his decision to move on. Maybe he should have; it would have saved him a lot of pain and heartbreak, and he could have lived the rest of his life in blissful ignorance of who he was and what he was meant to do.

Hindsight was always clearer.

Cracking the window open after dressing, Varys tied his hair back and got to work preparing what they'd need for today's tasks. A jar of salt was placed on the table beside the bet, and next to it the young mage placed a handful of long green reeds tied in cloth and a long cylinder about the size of his arm, standing upright.

"Up and at em'." He called over to Lottie's snoozing form. Varys sure hoped Hassel had some breakfast ready, because the day after being as drained as she was, she'd likely eat as much as a horse.

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

If her few hours in the back of the wagon had been deep sleep then this had been the sleep of the dead themselves. It gave her body the time it so desperately needed to try and claw back some of the energy she had spent. The haggard look she had sported the previous night was gone by the morning light though a few shadows still decorated beneath her eyes. Some would comment it was quite a marvel she looked that well considering the amount of magic she had used and it was a quiet testament to the sleeping power that lurked beneath her skin.

Dreams slowly came to her in the early hours of the morning as she rose from the deep sleep to a more natural one. They were pleasant, warm and hazy but left her with a feeling of love and safety she didn't want to let go of when Varys' voice drifted to her from the waking world. It wasn't words that answered Varys first of all but the almighty roar of her stomach that had even Lottie's eyes cracking open.

"Mmf...." she rubbed the back of her hand across her eyes. "I need bacon, eggs, and a mountain of sausages."

 

[Varys]

Varys hadn't felt particularly peckish a moment ago, but the ferocious growl of Lottie's stomach almost seemed to make his own gut ache in sympathy for the girl. It had been a while since their last full meal, hadn't it? One of his own hands went to his midsection as he eyed the salt and reeds he'd readied for a lesson. It would have to wait, he supposed. "We'll get you your mountain, but pants come first, or can you manage that much?" He teased, opening the window to the balcony she'd sat on the evening before wider so that he could step out onto it.

They'd slept in; already the streets were bustling, beings of all kinds moving through the streets below, and across the large branches and limbs that made walkways both between buildings and high in the treetops, bathed in sunlight. One would almost be convinced that the forest itself had wrapped the city in a loving embrace. The sight filled the elf with warmth. Why the hell were they still in this room?

"You dressed yet, slowpoke?" He called behind him, stretching on the balcony to limber up. "I know where we can get a good meal, about 7 minutes north of here on foot, but we're going to be running. Over the rooftops." Nothing she wasn't capable of, and he knew it. Could she keep up with an elf though, he wondered? "Winner gets extra. Sound good? Of course, if you don't think you can keep up with me..."

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

"That hardly seems fair when I don't know where we're going," Lottie tsked when she appeared at his side on the balcony. She'd chosen some of the new clothes she'd stolen back in Oban consisting of wide legged dark navy trousers tapered in at the ankles and that rode low on her hips, and a top that exposed a good handful of her toned and muscled stomach. Over the top she wore an oversized waistcoat in an elaborately embroidered deep blue silk. The whole look whispered of the far West and the desert lands there. Where Lottie had come across them was a riddle in itself and one she knew he would be dying to ask for she winked at him before scrambling up onto the roof when he glanced at her outfit.

"Point out the destination and I'll race you," she grinned as she tightened her bright yellow sash about her waist to hold the waistcoat tight to her body and so it would not flap as she ran.

 

[Varys]

She was right about one thing; the outfit was certainly eye-catching. Varys knew she was cute, but when she actually put in some effort to dress up a little she was... well, it was striking. "I'm not telling you exactly where it's at. But you'll know. Seven minutes, due north. Look for a building wrapped in limbs, with a pool of water on the roof." Surely that should stand out enough, especially when the sun sit the surface of said pool; the glimmer would be blinding.

It was always nice to soak under direct sunlight after a meal though, and that was the point of the Fa'Chel cafe. Not that Varys intended to use the bath today; they had work to be doing, and while Varys was eager to spend time at home, he also worried about being recognized. Varys had few friends, and more enemies.

"Oh... And if you hear horns." It wasn't an impossibility that some troupe of overzealous elves may think her a rooftop dwelling human thief. "Get down. Now, ready? set? go!"

Varys took off like a rocket, leaping from the balcony onto the next roof with a roll, wincing at the impact. He couldn't remember the last time he'd done this, and he was for more rusty than he anticipated. Lottie had done this only a few days ago... she'd have the advantage. Shaking off the pain, he winced through the morning sunlight as his feet carried him over a long branch between a bath house and an armory.

The hairs on the back of his neck were standing up.

Somebody was watching.

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

Lottie scowled like a petulant child when he refused to tell her exactly where it was they were going. "You'll know it when you see it," was such a Wren thing to say, usually when her older sister didn't want to give away her upper hand. Well if Varys wanted to play that way then fine. She would play that way. She was just beginning to play her route along what she could see of the rooftops so far, was crouching down to get ready to burst off the rooftop, when Varys' warning suddenly caught her ear.

"Get down?" she half stood back up and glanced over. Lottie didn't want to get in trouble - not when she'd just got here! "Why would they--" she didn't get any further because Varys was off. "Hey!" Lottie cried and shot off after him. She was certainly glad of the shoes she had picked, their grip stopping her from slipping over the tiles on the roof. Even so, her body protested. Her mind might have been willing but her energy was still low and she could feel a slight tremor to her legs every step and leap she took.

There's food at the end of this, she chastised her failing limbs as she leaped across a gap between two houses and landed in a nimble roll before springing to her feet again.

She was oblivious to the eyes that tracked her movements.

 

[Varys]

(SO so so sorry about the wait. x.x)

Varys had an inkling she'd be too wiped to keep up with him. He'd run these rooftops dozens of times, though it had been a while, and she'd only just arrived in the city for the first time. The purpose of this 'race' was more to rehabilitate her body after that scare they'd had yesterday; magical burnout was far more serious than most people wanted to admit, and if you didn't re-acclimate your body it wasn't unheard of to lose powers permanently.

That's why he didn't feel she needed to know exactly where they were headed; he doubted she would be able to push enough to catch up to him, and he didn't intend to go so far ahead that she lost sight of him. Varys only aimed to compete enough that she didn't realize this was just another exercise.

Even still, there was nothing he loved more than feeling the Falwood sun beating against his skin on a bright day like this; the last time he'd been up here he was about a foot shorter and his head had been shaved. Besides Hassel, he wondered if anybody around town would actually recognize him. Nah, probably better they didn't.

That eerie feeling that they were being tracked was somewhat worrisome, but it was entirely plausible that they were merely being observed by sell-scouts. People who ran shops or had valuables would often hire bowmen elves to hang out on their rooftops to deter thieves; it was a good source of money for those who weren't business-minded to sell goods and services or noble-blooded enough to be a part of the aristocracy.

That theory had assuaged his worries well enough. At least until the first arrow zinged behind his head, shaving off a few hairs with how near of a miss it was. Varys felt his whole body lean forward reflexively, stumbling and rolling over the edge of the building he ran atop, falling into a narrow alley between an upscale brothel and a Pawnbroker, the wind leaving him as he landed back first on the ground below.

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

There was no way the young thief had any hope of keeping up with an elf on a good day let alone today. That didn't stop her from trying though. Her cheeks were flushed a beetroot red from the effort it took but she dogged his heels far better than most humans - though she had a sneaking suspicion he was only jogging. Lottie muttered curses under her breath when her lungs allowed it though they were incoherent in between the panting. She thought she was going to have to ask for him to slow down and admit defeat when she caught the first glitter of water on the rooftops. That had to be it! Triumph gave her the shot of adrenaline she needed to clear another gap between houses when suddenly Vary's dropped.

The world slowed down.

There was nothing beneath her feet as Varys dropped to the tiles and rolled ungracefully off the lip of the tiled roof. There was certainly nowhere to go, no way to bend or dodge as another arrow buried itself into the back of her right shoulder. She imagined, briefly, as her body crumpled and begun to fall quite rapidly if this was what it felt like to be a pheasant on hunting days.

Lottie didn't fall as far as Varys did however. Instead she landed on the back of a cart loaded with hay. The shock and pain had her vision blurring and then suddenly a canvas sheet was tugged over the top.

"GO!" a voice shouted and then there was a crack of the whip. It was the last thing that made any sense at all as she lost consciousness.

 

[Varys]

"Ungh... Fucking hell..."

Varys wasn't sure how long it had been since he'd fallen. The elf had managed to land on the back of his head and knock himself clean unconscious. Even now as he lay in the dusty alley looking up at the clear sky visible through the crack between the two buildings darkness clung to the edges of his vision. He heard a calamity, muffled through his pain, and the sound of hooves in the distance.

Biting down on his lip, Varys rolled himself over onto his stomach with a groan, slowly working himself back on his feet, bracing himself on the wall beside him. Those weren't roof-guards; the attack had been too fast, too clean. The two of them had been targeted specifically, but Varys couldn't fathom who would be so eager to come after him or Lot...

The memory of Lottie wearing that stolen tiara after they'd left the ball several nights ago flashed through his head.

Shit.

Shouts and swears rose up from the people walking on the street as the silver-haired San'Seya burst from between the buildings with a speed that really shouldn't have been possible given the lump on his head. He'd gotten careless. Again! Damn him! Every time things started going his way, he would let his guard down and allow the people he cared about to be put in harm's way. What the hell was wrong with him?!

No, there'd be time to be angry with himself later. Varys had to find Lottie right this instant. Sprinting to a horse-drawn wagon carrying some hoity-toity types towards the brothel, he thrust his hand forward, a burst of wind knocking the well-dressed elves from their seats before Varys set about unhooking one of the horses, a brilliant chestnut brown stallion, from the carriage.

The elf heard the angry shouts behind him as he mounted the horse, but they quickly fell away as he grabbed two handfuls of mane and took off. It was a matter of moving back towards where Lottie had been when he'd fell, navigating the streets and scanning every inch of them for a sign of where she'd been.

The answer nearly ran him over; a covered wagon speeding recklessly around a corner nearly knocked him off his horse. The cover didn't do anything for those driving; Varys knew Lottie's energy well.

"Give her back to me, you d'shah!" San'Seya kicks his feet into the horse, following close behind.

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

"Is he followin' us?" shouted the man at the front over the ruckus. The cart swerved round a bend causing the rear end to smash into one of the brick walls. It made a horrendous noise of wood and stone before the wagon righted itself and they were off on all four wheels again down the street. The jostling woke Lottie only for pain to make her sink under again and again so all she caught were the snippets of the conversation.

"Yeah! He's gaining though, we need to make it to the bridge for Karlos to spring his trap though!"

"I'll get us there, I'll get us there!" the driver growled and the sound of a whip cracking against a horses flesh echoed off the buildings around them. With a lurch they picked up speed and hurtled on.

"Who... are you?" she groaned during one fit of wakefulness. Sluggishly she pawed at the embedded arrow in her shoulder to try and stop the stem of blood.

"Friends of dear ol' Varys, love. We just want to talk about old times."

 

[Varys]

Varys white-knuckled the horse's mane, teeth-gritting in barely restrained fury at the nerve of the captors. The wagon wouldn't outrun him for long; the driver was sloppy, and there were at least three people weighing it down. With every gallop of hooves against the stone roads, Varys came closer and closer to the back of the cart, now splintered with damage from the reckless driving.

They were quickly making their way to the bridge out of the north side of Fal'Addas. Once they were clear of the city they'd be much harder for him to track; He had to stop them before they got that far! As both Varys and the wagon ahead of him lurched dangerously around another sharp corner, the elf released his borrowed horse's mane, carefully rising to his feet atop the mount's back.

Keeping his balance was hard enough, his lean body wobbled back and forth, threatening to topple over at any moment. Even beyond that, though, Varys had no idea if what he was about to try would even work. It would take a borderline moronic amount of his energy, and even then he couldn't be sure it would close the distance. He didn't have a choice though; he had to put faith in his power, and take the jump.

Closing his eyes tightly, the elf jumped from the horse with a grunt of exertion. Quickly now, there wasn't time to waste. Everything seemed to slow down as Varys reached out for that connection with the world that gave him his strength. --Air! Wind! Could really use some crazy wind right now, please?!-- Varys heard nothing in return, not a whisper. Tensing his muscles, he braced to hit the road beneath him...

A massive gust of wind, as powerful as a stormy gale at sea hit Varys from behind, propelling the mage forward with impressive force--- and right onto the back of the wagon he'd been pursuing.

Varys had no idea where the hell he got the ability to do that, but he thanked the stars now. He'd landed on top of the cover, beside where Lottie lay underneath. Check on her later, deal with the rabble first. Climbing to his feet, Varys all but growled.

"Why wait? Let's talk now, boys."

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

The driver glanced over his shoulder and gave a curse, flinging them round another sharp bend in an effort to get Varys off the wagon. Everyone inside went tumbling along with him. Or rather, the elf who had staged all this wobbled slightly and stepped over Lottie as she went slamming into the side of the cart. With a soft groan she tried to push herself off but lights flickered in her vision from the pain.

"Look at him, Arion. Cocky as the day he left with that magician charlatan," the elf in the back of the cart shouted over the noise of trundling wooden wheels. He wore a sneer on his face and anger shone in his eyes. There was no answer from the front but buildings begun to peel away and a bridge began to come into view that would take them once more over the river and into the forests that had just travelled through. No doubt into this trap too.

"It's the boss who wants to speak to you Varys, reckon you've got lots to catch him up on."

As the elf apparently dealt with several years of pent up history, Lottie's hand fumbled with the arrow which she slowly begun to drag free.

 

[Varys]

Varys wasn't sure what was more gobsmacking to him; why these goons had decided to shoot an innocent woman instead of just grabbing him after he fell, or why the blazes they thought they were significant enough for him to remember them. Arion? Rung a bell maybe, but back when he lived on the streets you could spit in the air and it would land on a dumb thug he'd stolen from. That had just been how he survived.

He could see movement under the wagon cover, and winced. "Hold on, Lot." They'd stuffed her into the back like she were nothing but a hunk of meat. Tooth ground against tooth as he matched gazes with the elven fool across from him, reaching one hand back to hold onto the wagon as it lurched perilously to and fro. "That so? I'm afraid I won't be making that appointment, unfortunately." The mage all but hissed. The absolute nerve of them, to take his closest... his only friend and stuff her in the back of a wagon just to get at him... it filled him with the sort of rage he hadn't felt in a long, long time.

These rats had made a terrible mistake. The Varys that had caused them petty trouble years ago was not the same one that stood before them now. The child that had left so long ago had grown, learned of his true name, his true origin and power.

He was Varys San'Seya, The Speaker. You're damned right he was cocky. If he wanted to, he could have upheaved the road they traveled on, sent the trees toppling down atop them. Even now as he felt his fists clench and his jaw tighten even further he struggled to maintain his composure. Losing himself would only make such things happen without his control.

"I don't know who the hell you think you are, but if you have a problem with me, I suggest you leave my apprentice out of things. I happen to like her alive." A shout came from ahead of them as passerby dove out of the way of the careening vehicle, drawing Varys' gaze to the approaching bridge. Who knows what they were planning? Regardless, Varys didn't have time to jaw off to these people. Thrusting his hand forward, he called upon the air once more, seeking to throw the one in front of him off the wagon.

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

"Fuck," Lottie hissed as the barbed and jagged arrow head finally came free. She threw it in a haphazard manner and it went bouncing out the back of the wagon and onto the cobbled street behind them. Blood gushed down her arm warm and wet. It wasn't the worse wound she had ever had but it didn't mean it didn't fucking hurt. With a grunt she hurled a sack close to her and tore some of the rough hessian off to attempt to wrap it.

Or at least she would have if all hell hadn't let loose at that moment.

Atop the wagon the wind hurled itself at one of the would-be-kidnappers but whoever these people were they seemed to have been warned against whom they would be dealing with. The man hit the deck and the wind sailed over his head, its weight smashing into the trees ahead. There was a great snapping, cracking sound before two of the giant red oaks came heading towards them.

"Now!" the man shouted and the driver brought out a whistle too high pitched for human ears to hear.

The tree hit the bridge and just as the wagon would have plummeted into the raging river a griffon soared from the heavens and snatched it up like a mouse in its giant talons. The horses screamed as they were cut free and lost to the waves but their cries were soon drowned out by the deafening roar of wind rushing through feathers. Each beat of its wings made it practically impossible to do anything but cling to the wagon.

It wasn't for long that they flew further down stream to a small camp where the Griffon banked and with care deposited the wagon on the spring grass. A lords banner fluttered in the breeze outside a large pavilion tent. The man who had been the driver was the first to recover and quickly barged his way into the back of the wagon to seize a hold of their leverage whilst the other drew a blade and pointed it at Varys throat.

"Yer a hard man to get a hold of, but Niv will be having that chat wit' ya now."

 

[Varys]

It all happened so fast that not even he could have seen it coming. The goon ducked his blast as though he already knew what was about to happen. Varys stepped forward without a second thought, though, reaching out and grabbing the coward by his shirt. He'd like to see him try and dive out of the way of a punch to the face, and Varys had plenty to hand out to all of these idiots.

Of course, if he'd kept a cool head he'd have realized where that wayward burst of powerful wind was headed before the deafening snap of the trunk caught his ear and made him release the thug. "What.? Oh... no..." Varys hadn't thought he'd put that much power behind his shot, but the blast had been enough to snap several massive oak trees, which fell to the bridge with the force of an Ogre's angry fist, collapsing it effortlessly.

With a sneer, he glared down at the cowering elf at his feet. "You lucky, sneaky, no-good son of a wh---"

Before he could finish his sentence, the wagon--or at least the back of it-- was scooped up by a winged beast the likes of which Varys hadn't seen in years. The force of the change in elevation knocked him to his back, knocking the wind out of his lungs, which was a particularly bad thing if you had people who you'd just been threatening to kill standing around you. Sure enough, he was quickly dragged to his feet at knife-point just as the surprisingly short flight concluded, landing them only a short way out into the forest at a small camp.

Varys was held tight; there wasn't much of anywhere he could go with the arm around his head and the knife to his jugular. Lottie was bleeding like a stuck pig from an open wound, and now some unknown hand was doing his damndest to see them dead.

Then he saw the banner, even before he heard the name.

And despite the situation, he broke out into a laugh.

"Fucking Niv?"

He saw him too, standing outside the biggest tent in the camp with those ridiculous robes, looking as self-important as ever. Varys didn't care, Niv could get bent, there was something much more important he was worried about... And if he had to do something stupid to help, he would.

"I'll talk to him, alright?" He mutters to his friend hugging him from behind. "But you have to wrap her up right now, else I'll make you cut my throat and your boss can kiss his money, and your pay, goodbye..."

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

Lottie was all but dragged out of the wagon by her ankles like a spitting alley cat. The driver gave more than a few muffled foul-mouthed curses when her legs and fists caught him in the stomach, ribs, chest and face in various manners. Eventually however, by digging his fingers into her wound, he manage to make her more... cooperative. She still spat at him though as she was hurled along beside the knife-wielder so Varys could see just what kind of a state she was in.

"Oh we'll bandage her up, Niv was quite clear he didn't want the Princess to die. We were allowed to maim her a bit to get you here though. Imagine his surprise finding out he would not only get the money you owed him, but the reward for delivering Charlotte Beaufort back to her beloved?"

Lottie's whole face went white.

"Come on then," he motioned with the knife towards the tent and the driver shoved Lottie forward too, causing her to stumble. "Let's all have some tea and a good ol' chat."

 

[Varys]

Seeing Lottie so utterly terrified at the notion of being sent home... Varys had to wonder what awaited her there? She'd made only brief passing mentions of her life before their meeting, never going into too much detail, but Varys knew how Oban royals were. Chances are she was being railroaded through every aspect of her life, and that more than certainly included marriage. Now she'd finally broken free, only to be shot down from the sky like a game bird and told she would be sent right back to where it had began.

She must have been mortified, and the blood loss certainly wasn't helping her; she was as white as a sheet.

"Breathe, Lott. I'll get us out of this." He muttered, at the risk of angering their escorts. Varys always found a way into these messes, but he was also pretty damned good at finding his way out. Not seeking to push his luck any further just yet, the elf didn't offer any further resistance as the pair of them were led towards a sneering Niv, his old and wrinkled face was even uglier when he looked absolutely pissed. Varys wanted to punch the gross look off of his blad head.

"Varys. So good to finally catch up with you. I hope I didn't impose too much on your little vacation with this absconder?" Niv stepped forward, cupping his bony hand under Lottie's chin and lifting her face to meet her gaze. "I've no idea what the Prince sees in you, Beaufort. You're a brat, foul-tempered and insubordinate. You ruined my party, and now you're taking off with my debtors like some common whore."

Varys felt his teeth clench, his body only staying put because of the knife at his throat. "I'll admit it, Niv. I didn't think you had the stones for a stunt like this. You always were an old cowardly bitch." Niv quickly spun around and slapped Varys across his face, glowering in anger. "Enough! You're older than me, you transmutated freak! I should have ratted you out 60 years ago! If you hadn't tried to cheat me, you wouldn't be in this predicament, old friend."

Varys squeezed his jaw shut. The slap hadn't hurt, but Niv's words... Lottie still didn't know a lot about the person she was traveling with. He'd meant to tell her, but things had gone a mile a minute since they'd left and there just hadn't been any time...

Seemingly satisfied with his silence, Niv backs away, looking between both of them. "Good. Keep that trap shut while I tell you exactly how this is going to work. You, San'Seya, are either going to give me everything you owe me plus interest, or you're going to be doing whatever I say for a very, very long time. Miss Beaufort, you'll be patched up, and promptly shipped back to your husband-to-be. I understand he's very interested in reuniting with you after all these years..."

Varys had to do something, had to throw a wrench in Niv's plans or else the window for them to escape would be too small. Time, he needed time... He could only think of one thing in the split second he had.

"She can't."

He felt the knife press against his throat in warning, but Niv held out a hand to the one holding him and stepped forward, eyes narrowed. "She can't what, Varys?"

"She can't get married, Niv. I already married her. That's why we ran away together, you idiot. She's Charlotte San'Seya now..."

Silence. Nothing was said, but the San'Seya could see Niv's head beginning to go red, could practically hear his teeth grinding. Varys pushed further.

"I've bedded her, Niv. Far as the Prince will be concerned, she's spoiled goods now."

Without warning, Niv pulled his own knife from his side and swung at Varys, cleaving one of his ears clean off of his skull.


Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

Her blood roared in her ears as the driver pushed her forward. He quickly realised he didn't need to use much force and led her along like a lamb upon a lead. If she were not still burnt out from last night and if she had not lost so much blood maybe she would have been able to grab a hold of that bright, shining source that lived inside her and allowed her to make the world anew. Oh how she wanted to make the world anew right now.

She was so lost in that other world she flinched badly when Niv suddenly gripped a hold of her chin. The man at her back made sure she didn't leap across the room or make an escape, his fingers digging into her wound slightly to remind her the pain he could inflict with barely any effort. She desperately groped for some of that iron will, that defiance, that strength she had built brick by brick in the forests, and got enough together to give him a dark look and spit when he named her a whore. Inside though she was terrified at his threat of packing her back and her resolve broke.

"Please, do--"

She can't.

Lottie's head whipped towards Varys with wide eyes. Then her mouth all but dropped open at the next thing coming out of his mouth, her cheeks flaming crimson and her breathing hitching. What was he doing?! The Prince would flay him alive, he would--

"VARYS!" She surged forward against the grips of her captor when the knife sliced through flesh. The man holding him cursed as blood sprayed across his chest and face and the man holding her swore and all but lifted her off the floor to stop her pulling against him.

"Put me down! Stop it! STOP IT! THE PRINCE WON'T CARE!" she shouted as the knife was raised again then paused. "H-he won't care," she repeated, tears all but streaming down her cheeks. She felt sick to her stomach. "He had me first. The... The marriage can be annulled please just, just don't hurt him anymore."

 

[Varys]

Varys was pretty sure he heard Lottie start screaming, but he couldn't tell. The entire right side of his face felt like it'd been set on fire. He only felt the cold metal for a fraction of a second, but after that came the pain, then the warmth of his own blood down his cheek.

It'd been a stab in the dark from the very beginning, that bluff. Varys had no idea whether Lottie had been a virgin, or if her suitor would even care about something like that, but he knew the wealthy, royal types well enough to know that they didn't like to share their toys very much. But it didn't matter. It didn't matter if he bought it, or if anybody cared...

Because like it or not, Niv would have to relay that little tidbit before sending Lottie anywhere. Sure, they could pretend they'd never heard him say anything of the sort, but royal families had a little more to lose with a stunt like that. If word got out that the woman their Prince married was already wed? Well, that would be a disaster, wouldn't it? Think of how the public would swing. The marriage itself could easily be called into question! Least, that's how he saw it.

No, they'd want to make sure any pre-existing relationship was annulled before they handed her over. Varys counted on that little bit of time. It was all he needed to weasel the both of them out of this, just like he always did.

Like he always did.

It was the last thought he had before the pain crawled into his vision and blackened it. The elven mage went limp in the grasp of the seething man holding him. It was far from enough to kill him, of course, but once they were certain he wasn't married to Lottie, they'd probably finish the job.

Niv stood there, holding the bloody knife with deep, shaky breaths as his wide eyes looked at San'Seya. Slowly, his hand stopped shaking, and he lowered the knife, stepping back in a slight stagger. "Leave him here, with me." The bald-headed noble breathed. "Take her." He waved a hand towards a still screaming Lottie, a sneer on his lips. "Fix her up. If she dies, he'll probably kill us for letting it happen."

The two men, one holding Lottie tightly, gritting his teeth and swearing under his breath at her constant bitching, and one releasing Varys to let him fall to the ground in a heap, both looked at Niv quizzically.

"I said GO!" Niv snapped, causing them both to take a step back and their boss raised his hands in frustration, barely holding back a snarl. "I'll... figure it out..." Damn this rotten elf. Damn him and all his tricks. Ever since he'd met him, when he was still a youthful, aspiring politician, he'd known Varys was trouble.

Of course, back then Varys was the older one. The San'Seya he'd met was taller, broader, and with a thick beard to match.

Lottie was hauled to one of the smaller tents surrounding Niv's large one in the center, still kicking and screaming. The old man watched her only for a moment before reaching down to pull Varys' limb body into his own tent. It shouldn't have come to this, really. For all that he'd done for San'Seya, and San'Seya for him, the fact that he wanted so badly to crush his skull brought Niv some level of sadness.

Sixty years ago, Nithrow Vailus and Varys San'Seya had been the closest of friends, apprentices under the same Master. Now Niv was aging and wrinkled, and Varys looked younger back then than he did now, still traveling the world, still capturing the hearts of adventurous souls like Ms. Beaufort. She had no idea what a disgusting creature her supposed husband was.

It was cruel. That this freak of nature found so many ways to make him hate.

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

"I promise, you'll like it."
​

Caught between a living nightmare and the one hidden in memories she had tried to bury Lottie fought like a wild cat they were attempting to stuff into a bag. The words, pleas and curses mingled together, were a string of nothings she barely heard herself say but she must have been saying them for the man who had been her jailer from the start cupped a hand over his mouth to stifle the words. A sharp bite to his fingers saw them promptly replaced with some sort of rag before the fellow who had once held Varys grabbed her legs and the pair bundled her out of Niv's tent.

"Doc, we got a live one!" a tall willowy woman unfurled from where she had been sat reading and blinked at the scene of the woman bundled between two men. "Niv says patch her up, but if you could give her something to shut her up, my ears would be thankin' ye," he grimaced as they all but threw Lottie on the table.

"Yes, yes of course," she stammered then began to methodically move about the tent to fetch her things whilst the thugs held her down. "Here you go sweetie, a nice little sleep will ease that pain," she cooed as she pried the girls mouth open and forced a vile concoction down her throat.

"We'll make you all better... don't w..."

After that, Lottie remembered nothing but darkness.

 

[Varys]

Varys woke up to the worst headache of his entire life.

For the first couple minutes after he came around, he didn't even remember what had happened. His mind slowly reset, recalling events as they came back to him one by one. They'd been in Fal'Addas. There was an exercise he'd wanted to put Lottie through, the roof-running one, right? They'd just started, and she was doing pretty good, all things considered. Then... and then...

His eyes snapped open, darting around to take in his surroundings. Nithrow's tent-- it was so neat and full of shining baubles and expensive-looking furniture that it might as well have been a palatial estate with rag walls. The sense of smell came back next, his nostrils flaring at the warm scent of something cooking. Gods, he was hungry...

A sharp pain rang out from the right side of his head, and Varys winced, bringing a hand to his temple, only to find it crudely bandaged and damp with what he could only assume was blood. Oh, right, his ear. That had really sucked. With a groan, the elf sat up on the ragged mat he'd been tossed on. Why the hell hadn't Niv restrained him? It didn't take long for the old noble to notice he'd risen, from his seat in front of a boiling pot of hearty-smelling stew.

If looks could kill, Varys would be a dead man right now.

"Always did like your cooking Niv. Told you it could bring back the dead..."

Nithrow's face softened ever so slightly, for just a moment. Despite the circumstances... they had once been brothers in arms.

"Shut up." he snapped back, turning his head away from Varys, and dipping a ladle in the pot to stir his meal. "Why do you always have to fuck things up for me, Varys? The money, the party, and now the girl... It's always you."

That smirk Varys was wearing slowly faded, and the elf looked down, biting his cheek. If he was being honest, he didn't blame Nithrow for his actions. Niv was never evil, he just... did as he was told. Varys had always been the rule-breaker of the pair.

"You know this isn't right. How they're treating Charlotte."

"So what if I do? It isn't our place, Varys. Gods, man... first the forbidden magic, then smuggling runaways out of Oban? I don't want to kill you, idiot. I hate you, but I don't want your blood on my hands."

San'Seya rolled his eyes. They both knew that Varys would win in a fair fight. It just so happened that Niv had an army of goons with him. He didn't want to kill Niv either, though.

"I can't let you take her back." he muttered. "It doesn't matter how you try and talk me down, Niv. She's put all of her trust in me." Varys paused, looking towards the flap of the tent, behind a rather luxurious-looking chaise. Only Niv would furnish a tent with a chaise. "So either you let us go, or we settle things here, old friend."

There was a very real chance that only one of them was leaving this camp alive. Varys would try to keep Niv alive, but... it would be a messy fight.

"You're really serious, aren't you?" Niv sighed, spinning in his seat to face the still prone elf looking up at him. "You'll fight me over Beaufort? You won't walk away when I'm giving you the chance? All because you've fallen for a girl you knew damn well you shouldn't fall for?"

Varys didn't answer but slowly rose to his feet. Nithrow brought a hand to the knife at his side but didn't draw it.

The silent tension was thick enough to choke on as they glared at one another. The lines had been drawn, the gauntlet thrown down, and the challenge issued. Now, there was only one thing left to do. Niv clicked his tongue, and the two men from before stormed into the tent, taking Varys by his arms. and attempting to pull him back out of the tent.

San'Seya closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Suddenly, the fire underneath Niv's pot flared from a small cooking flame to a ravenous inferno, sending Nithrow falling onto his ass and lighting the roof of the tent alight with the angry red tongues that rose up. Varys felt the two men holding him falter, startled by the burst of fire, and slid his arms forward and then back to drive his elbows into their chests.

They both stumbled back, tripping over the chaise and falling onto their backs. By that time Niv had recovered, and with a twirl of his own hand sought to direct the flames towards Varys. San'Seya raised his hand as quick as he could to try and command the fire to stop, but he was a second too late. The fire didn't burn him, but the impact was immense, pushing him back over the chaise himself and beyond, tumbling out into the campgrounds.

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

"Princess Consort? Can you hear me?"

"Everything... hurts..."

"Please, just take it easy your Highness. I had to give you a large dose of Rogroot and..."

The voice sounded as though it were coming to her through a wall of water as if Lottie were submerged deep beneath the waves and someone was shouting to her from the surface. No, not water, mud. Moving felt sluggish and like far too much effort as she attempted to roll onto her side and get to her feet. Flickers of Varys having his ear cut off had haunted her even in the deep sleep she had been forced into.

"I have to... have to go... to him..." hands attempted to press her back down into a soft bed but she clumsily fended them off. Pain began to stab through the wall of meds and she blearily glanced down at her shoulder. "Mother... fucker," where was her knife? Wren always said repay what was done to you and she had every intention of following her sisters sound advice.

"If you would just lay down I can give you some more--"

"NO!" Even in her current state she knew what 'more' would do. She hurled herself to her feet and several shouts went up. "Stay away!" she put her hand out with the intention of stopping them, though how she had not been entirely sure. But her magic did. A deep shockwave echoed in the earth and suddenly the air around the camp began to distort and fracture as if the whole thing had been a mirror that someone had now driven their first through. It was hard to tell what was up and what was down but it hardly mattered to Lottie with the drugs still in her veins and she was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. So without a second thought she threw herself towards where the opening of the tent had been.

 

[Varys]

Varys quickly found his feet, the heat of the sun against the back of his neck much more welcome than the stuffy air of that tent. He wouldn't have long; Niv was quick to follow him out of the tent, with one of the two guards San'Seya had knocked silly. So, he'd gotten one of em' good. That gave the Elf a grin as he planted his feet in the grass and rose his hands to the ready. Of course, those hadn't been his only two men. Varys counted at least four more moving to encircle him.

Niv swung first, hurling a blast of air similar to what Varys had used against his men earlier at his old friend-turned-foe. It might've hit, too, if Varys hadn't seen it coming for what it was: A distraction. Niv's magic was weaker than his, and even if that wind had knocked him back it wouldn't have done much. No, he was trying to push Varys back into an approaching guard from behind, brandishing a damned morningstar of all things.

Instead of trying to dodge the blast, he turned his back to it, reaching into the pocket of his trousers for a handful of gravel pebbles. Bringing them to his mouth, he muttered some quiet instructions to the eager stones before the wind impacted his back, sending him towards the glowering man. Throwing the pebbles, they flew like grapeshot, traveling at a dangerous speed and striking the approaching brute in the face. In particular, his eyes.

Dropping the morning star, the hulk clutched at his bleeding eyes and dropped to his knees, wailing and screaming in pain. Varys felt for the guy, really, but that didn't stop him from letting that wind blast carry his knee right into the poor soul's head, sending him toppling back. He hadn't even turned back around and he could almost hear Niv's teeth grinding. One down, five to go.

Reaching down and grabbing the discarded weapon, Varys took a charge at Niv, brandishing the morning star behind him with one hand, his other palm pointed towards the ground. The old man called for his men, and like obedient dogs, they tried to close in on him. That was what the elf had been counting on, and with another soft plea to the world, the ground beneath his feet shifted, a chunk of the land shooting upwards and launching Varys over the heads of the two coming at him from the front.

The moment he landed, he swung the morningstar back, colliding against their helmets with two solid 'thunks', It wouldn't kill them, but they wouldn't be getting up any time soon. Three down, three to go.

For a minute there, Varys was wondering if he still had it in him to fight like this. He'd been a being of violence and spite, quite some time ago. Before all of that botched magic with the prism, Varys would have enjoyed shedding this blood.

It made him somewhat proud of himself that there was no enjoyment that came to his mind now. His thoughts were only of Lottie, and getting her out of here in one piece. He really had come a long way. It was no wonder Nithrow saw him as different, he realized.

Love really does change a person, after all.

Raising his weapon and pointing it straight at the old mage standing across from him, their bout was interrupted by a cry. Lottie's cry.

And then everything began to change.

The sky itself seemed to peel off in chunks, like old paint off of a wall. The ground trembled in fear, the trees seemed to distort and bend in ways impossible for reality. The clouds turned colors--- white to blue, blue to red, and then back again. Both Varys and Niv, looked back towards where Lottie had been kept, both of them realizing what was happening at the same time.

"Damn it, not now!"

Varys dropped the morning star and fled to the medical tent as fast as his legs could carry him. Lottie was wounded, presumably drugged, and already drained of energy from the previous day. If she lost herself in her own power now, there was a very good chance she would be killed by it, lost in the ether of her own making. He couldn't let that happen.

So too, it seemed, did Niv come to this conclusion. As Varys turned to run, the old man sent another burst of wind at his back to bolster his speed. San'Seya looked back only for a moment, locking eyes with the now stonefaced Valius. A moment of solidarity between two foes working towards the same goal.


Saving Charlotte Beaufort from herself.

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

Large chunks of earth appeared to break away from the ground carrying with it horses, tents and men who had been standing on it. Ladders that looked as though they went down deep into the earth appeared only for those who fell down them to appear above the heads of those still on the ground. The sky cracked and became a thousand shards of glass in delicate slithers each refracting a different colour. Trees swayed suspended upside down and people shouted for help as the hung from the branches looking nervously at the ground far below.

Of course it was all an illusion but the majority of the people there didn't know that and those that did would struggle to make sense of a world only one person had any real control over.

A guard lunged for her as she dived for the medic tent opening then screamed as he went plummeting down what appeared to be a wide hole Lottie herself had somehow leapt across. Her heart raced but her mind struggled to keep up with what was happening, still slurred from the drugs in her system. The only thought she had was the need to escape. To get out. Almost as she thought it a door appeared before her and she opened it to reveal a walkway of stars beyond. Glancing back at the men shouting and racing towards her she swallowed and threw herself into the unknown.

 

[Varys]

It wasn't real. It was all the product of a magical prodigy who'd been forced to repress the powers inside of her for far too long, to the point they were ready to burst from every pore of her body. The thought had crossed his mind when she'd broken down on the way to Fal'Addas, but it wasn't until Varys was made to traverse the otherwordly dreamscape that Lottie was twisting the world into...

No, Varys would deal with the ramifications of this later. First he had to find her, help her reel this in before it swallowed her up completely. He was her Master, after all. That was his job!

What a Master he'd been so far. One day of training and change, and every other hour somebody trying to kill them...

The ground beneath his feet threatened to burst, flip upside down, or merely melt away from him every time he took a step. The only reason it didn't was that Varys was aware of the illusion, and therefore could resist it to a small degree. Oh, make no mistake this was all totally fucked up: trees flying through the air, the sky crumbling apart, giant gashes in the earth split his path in twain, hoping to swallow him up...

But it was just Lottie's mind on overdrive, so long as Varys knew this, and constantly reinforced that fact, he would be fine. The boost of speed from Niv had gotten him close, and just as he climbed a downed oak lying in his path he saw her there, clambering drunkenly into a door floating in mid-air, flanked by a group of Niv's men either chasing her or running for their lives, Varys couldn't quite tell.

Either way, they weren't following her for long; as soon as Lottie entered that door, everything got worse.

Varys didn't know why, but as soon as that illusionary door slammed shut it was as if the deterioration doubled in speed and strength. The earth beneath her pursuers opened it's maw and swallowed them, lightning began shooting from the ground up into the sky, narrowly missing Varys who stepped aside and made for the door.

Pulling it open, and without much thought, Varys dove in after her.

Lottie Beaufort