Private Tales The Stabby Thread

[Talus]

House Relek was a minor House, but that didn't mean they couldn't afford mercenaries. Off the top of his head he would have guessed a few hundred, perhaps less depending on the situation.

"They are a rich House." He commented as he walked over towards a nearby desk and pulled out a note. "Not quite the same as a Great House, but most of their works are in gold mining and the like."

Which was why they were so interested in the north. "They'll have a few hundred mercenaries, though I'm unsure if all of them will be at the estate."

The note was quickly folded up, and he closed his hands around it as he spoke a few words. A second later the paper emerged from his palm, flittering out the window.

 

[Artemis]

Eyes closed, her fingers came to clasp each other across her stomach. Ashen hair fanned out from her head. A few hundred mercs?

Hell, if she'd had the opportunity of surprise, she could've taken them all down. And her weapons back. Those highly poisonous darts.

"That's doable," she murmured. Without opening her eyes, she asked the next logical question.

"This healer that you're summoning. Do you trust them?"

 

[Talus]

"About as much as I trust anyone in Vel Anir." Which was to say that they had their own self interest but most of the time they aligned with Talus' own.

The Healer was of course a member of the Guard, and that meant that in theory they were loyal to both Talus and the rest of the Guard itself.

Being a Dreadlord Talus was naturally suspicious of everyone, even his own friends at times, but he had been learning to trust more and more as of late. It wasn't an easy task, but over time it had become more of a nature to do so.

"I wouldn't have summoned them If i thought they'd give me away." Talus said calmly. "The risk is worth it."

At least to him.

 

[Artemis]

"Well," she began, index finger tapping over the material of the robe across her taught stomach. Eyes remained blissfully closed. She wasn't worried about him killing her anymore. He would've done it when he'd had her pinned to the floor.

She'd already fallen fairly far from the code - how much lower could she go?

"How will you explain me to the healer?"

She was curious. Training accident? Tell the truth?

 

[Talus]

"Don't have to explain." Talus said with a shrug. "I'm his superior."

It really was that easy when it came to the Guard.

The men and women who worked with Talus knew better than to ask any questions that they didn't really want the answers to. They would stay quiet, particularly when he gave an order that seemed to be of the utmost importance.

It was one of the things he enjoyed the most about the arrangement. He had earned the trust of the Guardsmen beneath him, and that trust was enough for most things.

 

[Artemis]

Within the next few days, Artemis found her leg healed. As good as it was going to get for a bit. She was still stiff and there was a slight limp that would last some time. Even with the help of a decent healer. But living with pain wasn't something new to the assassin. In training, she'd had to fight and survive on a sprained ankle - a broken arm. Held a sword with a broken finger.

She sat atop an ashen horse, her clothes and armor on. She finally felt more like a whole person again. Hawk-like predatory eyes flickered around the landscape as they traveled. Always scanning for threats.

This time she wasn't just watching her back; she was watching Talus' back.

She intended to fill the debt she owed him. And she would. It would take about two full day's ride and a night between to get to the fulfillment center.

"I feel a lot lighter," she commented dryly. "With one knife."

 

[Talus]

"Excellent." He commented as he lead his horse along the path. "That will let you move faster."

A ludicrous concept of course, but Talus had decided she didn't exactly need every single weapon she'd been carrying. All of them were currently loaded into one of his saddlebags, but that was where they would stay for the time being.

No one would stop and search them, at least not in Anirian territory, but it was hard to trust someone that had literally tried to kill you. She still claimed she had some sort of debt owed to him, but such a concept was foreign to Talus. He had always been taught that enemies were enemies and nothing else.

Even having her here alongside him was...strange to say the least. "How about you just enjoy the country side."

He told her. "And the fact that you have your own horse."

Another decision he hadn't been sure about.

 

[Artemis]

The assassin harumphed and eyed his steed closely.

"You would've had to get a bigger horse then, big shot." Gaze shifted to that saddle bag of his. All her weapons. She missed her whip the most.

"Could always take that sword off your hands," she offered slyly. Voice shifted to something a little more serious next as she eyed the farmhands close to the road. They seemed very apprehensive about Talus and whispered about a dreadlord.

"Do you trust the lands we're traveling through to be safe or do you think other houses have put a bounty on your death?" Art was one to cut straight to the point.

 

[Talus]

"We're safe to travel." He assured Artemis.

House Relek undoubtedly had put another bounty on his head already, but he wasn't entirely sure when they would come. What he was confident of though was the safety of the roads.

Any assassin who attacked someone on the road on Vel Anir would be a fool. Guard posts were common and any bandits were swiftly and quickly hunted down. Add to that the fact that most roads had waystations and designated rest spots Anirian territory was as safe to travel through as could've.

At least this close to the city itself anyway.

The further you went out the more dangerous it eventually became. They were only heading to the Portal Stone, relatively close to VelAnir itself. "Why, worried about me?"

He jested.

 

[Artemis]

For a moment, she was thoughtful and quiet as she rode next to him. He didn't have her in height by that much. So, she was nearly able to look at him eye-to-eye.

"Yes," she said sharply.

She knew he was joking but she wasn't.

"You being a dreadlord, what these folk whisper about, didn't stop me. And it won't stop my order. Or any other order that wants coin and profit. I know you're confident in your skills. Especially after what happened to me but cockiness generally means death. I hope you realize that."

A warning.

 

[Talus]

He was aware, though in this his confidence did not come from cockyness. He was confident because he believed in the Guard. The men and women whom he'd been training and working with for the last few months.

They did a good job, and Talus had every confidence in them. "We'll be watchful."

He said calmly.

There was a point to her words. If more of her organization came they likely wouldn't care about the Guardsmen who might come by. Other fools could also come. He straightened slightly, frowning but deciding not to focus on every bad thing around.

"How did you become an assassin." Talus asked curiously.

 

[Artemis]

A part of her expected another retort against her caution. And his answer was...surprising. She gave a short, satisfactory nod of her head. It would do for now.

If they were to survive this, they needed to be on the same page and working together...and much as he'd allow. She shifted in her saddle, smoothing the slight grimace off her face from the panging stab in her upper thigh.

"In my order," she began, "you don't so much become an assassin. I suppose you're born into it. We don't have mothers or fathers. You could say our tribe is our family." A family that trained to kill each other, hurt each other, but also showed a certain amount of respect by follow the code set forth.

 

[Talus]

He chuckled. "Seems we have something in common then."

In truth he had suspected as much. From the way Artemis had talked about it earlier the entire ideal didn't seem too disconnected from Dreadlords.

Though of course, his 'family' were constantly trying to murder one another. He still remembered his time at the Academy and everything they had done there. A frown touched his features, and he shook his head to dismiss the thought.

"Ever want to do anything else?" It was a question that had often been asked of him lately, and he was eager to get her perspective on it.

 

[Artemis]

Eyes looked carefully at a group of beggars close to the road. They held hands up toward Talus, palms looking for coin, though their heads tilted downward - submissively. She scrutinized their clothing and hands - making sure they weren't harboring weapons.

One of them held a hay pitch and for a moment, she imagined all the ways she could kill someone with that simple farm tool. Head shook slightly as she returned most of her attention back to Talus, keeping a wary gaze on those beggars.

"That is a difficult question to answer," she began. What else would a hired killer be good at? She'd be an abysmal farmer and fisher. The idea of being surrounded by the more genteel or at court made her feel suffocated. "I have not thought about it nor have I ever been asked. Nor do I think there would be a scenario where I would be able to choose something else," she finished quietly.

"Have you?" Ashen brows raised on her face as she looked at the man.

 

[Talus]

"Not until recently." Talus admitted quietly as he glanced towards the beggars a second.

He wasn't really worried about someone disguising themselves. His concern lay more with a blade in the dark than anything else. That was the usual tactic of Assassins in Vel Anir, and if House Relek hired others that was the expected method.

Still, he'd promised to be more weary.

His head shook and he continued. "Dreadlords are raised much the same as you are, we aren't often given choices about our lives."

Talus explained.

 

[Artemis]

"Hm," she shot the man a sideways glance, sitting tall in her saddle. "Honor is very important as part of my tribe. Though, while growing up we do just try to survive, while adhering to the standards set forth."

They'd been trained harshly. All of it was to hone them into silent, deadly killers. Have them survive against people like Talus - those who could use magic. Those who had every advantage. That didn't mean that everyone survived to graduation. Many of her class had been lost the week they'd been trained to sleep lightly, having failed to do so, getting a knife across their throats.

"Once I didn't sleep for four days and nights straight to make sure I was awake for the older students trying to kill us in our bunks."

 

[Talus]

He paused before saying anything, deciding it was probably not the best idea to get into a 'Who had the worse childhood' contest.

Times at the Academy had been largely bad, but it would have been a lie to say there weren't moments he looked upon somewhat fondly. Sierra, Hal, and Lucian had somehow managed to form a friendship, and he remembered things about them.

Talus couldn't help but smile for a second before speaking. "I suppose we've both suffered in different ways."

He said quietly.

"Do you have friends within your order, those beyond Honor?" A distinct difference he thought.

 

[Artemis]

Suffered?

She'd never thought of it as suffering. Perhaps refining. Like refining silver. To get impurities out of metal wasn't a painless process for the metal. They were just the silver being refined by fire.

She caught his smile and wondered silently what he was remembering.

Hands eased back on the reigns, fingers and palms rough with callouses from countless training and using many things as weapons. Hands that were deadly.

Friend.

Another foreign term and idea.

"Do you mean one who would put my needs above their others? One whom I would trust to tell a secret to, even if it went against the Order?"

 

[Talus]

"Yes that would be the definition of a friend." Talus had struggled with the idea for a while himself.

In fact, a part of him wondered if the friends he did have were true ones.

He trusted them, but did they trust him in the same way? He supposed that they all had their secrets, their own separate little lives. Was that normal? Talus honestly had absolutely no idea. There was no frame for normal.

Even if he was slowly understanding through the Guard.

 

[Artemis]

"No," she said quietly and simply. She didn't know if she was missing anything because she'd never had 'friends.' No one worked against the code or even talked about going against the code in the order.

"Once we graduate, we operate individually. We're on our own, expected to follow the code of the order." A shrug rippled through her light-armored shoulders. If she thought she was missing something in her life, she didn't show it.

"We should scout a secure place to camp for the night." Eyes scanned the horizion. They had some solid hours of daylight left but she wouldn't mind setting up camp early. So she could set a perimeter.

 

[Talus]

Talus just nodded his head slowly. "Good idea."

The young Dreadlord wasn't exactly sure what she would seem as safe, but he wanted to find an alcove or something of the sort they could tuck themselves into. He had brought sleeping mats and blankets, but they had no tent.

Such luxuries were not exactly provided often by Dreadlords, hell even the Guard didn't issue you a tent unless you were important enough. He probably could have requested one, but well he didn't need it. With a gentle tug he pulled his horse to the left, taking them off the road.

"This way." He knew there was a nearby Ridgeline, and with luck they'd find a suitable cave.

A smile touched his face as he watched their surroundings carefully. "At least this mission isn't boring."

 

[Artemis]

Artemis was used to traveling alone. Using the night as cover and the daytime to rest. Relying on herself during the darkest of nights and brightest of days within hostile territory. She was good at moving like a shadow.

Traveling through the day in the open next to a well-known figure to the surrounding country and town folk?

It made her stiff and alert.

Her horse followed next to his own as they shifted off the road. She caught that smile of his. "You don't seem like a man that goes on many boring missions," she commented quietly.

 

[Talus]

Talus let out a small chuckle. "No I don't suppose I do."

Of there was one thing he could say about his life, it was the fact that there was always plenty of excitement. Every mission he'd been on had ended up with some rush of adrenaline. He couldn't remember the last time he'd don't something relatively "easy".

Talus wondered if that was because he did it to himself or just because of fate.

"At least I have that going for me." He mused. "Better than working a field all day."

Was it?

Talus truthfully didn't know, couldn't have said. A month of relaxation and rest could have been exactly what he needed, but it also could have driven him insane.

 

[Artemis]

"Perhaps," she said thoughtfully, eyes scanning the treeline they were approaching. There was a ridgeline just beyond. Fingertips fell to the handle of the ONE knife he'd given her as they entered the shade of the wood. No more open ground. This would be a good spot for an ambush.

So would their campsite at night.

Blue-grey eyes studied the small trails that went off into the woods. Only an experienced tracker would see them. Deer. Boar. Bear. She hoped that's all it was.

 

[Talus]

Talus glanced around, his figure at ease as they slowly stepped through the wood.

There was no ambush, not this time around, but as they approached the edge of the ridgeline Talus couldn't help but feel like something would soon be off. "This good enough?"

He asked quietly.

The stone outcropping would protect from the wind, though she was right in her assumption that there wasn't much to defend. A simple stone, no wall, and it opened to two different ways when they looked inside. Still, it was better than nothing.