Private Tales The White Rose of Alliria

[Bhan]

THE TRADE CITY OF ALLIRIA
Aisha Monroe

Bhan the God-Praiser.

Bhan Bone-Whisperer.

Bhan the-

But well, names don't matter, it is actions that do.

The man who consorted with dark gods and whispers comes down from the North by ship. It was the easiest path. He looks around the harbor and his passage draws attention. Carved flesh burning bright under the furs. But the Northern Skald is polite. He is full of easy smiles and ignores any rudeness. It is better to pick the least resistant path for the river.

He is as far South as he had ever been. This fact disturbs him. No warband following him, no kinsmen around him. Only southerns as far as the eye reached. But the dark whispers had come to him at night.

They spoke of a bride.

No, a woman.

No, a Lady.

No, southern blood sealed in southern flesh.

Conflicting, but all pointed to the same destination. A giant estate on the outskirts of the trade city. A young woman trapped in a gilded cage. This is a story that happens all the time, but not every godly proclamation requires originality. At least not to follow it to the letter. His steps took him forward, one at a time, and he managed to dodge any guards in his way.

They would not be so kind to him this far south.

The door was closed. This was expected. Bhan did not knock. He took the path of least resistance again. The river flows. And it took him over the walled garden, dropping down into grass and cover of hedges.

Now to find the girl.

Then perhaps the screaming in his head would ease.

 

[AMonroe]

It wouldn’t be hard to find Aisha. She often spent the nicer days outside, laying in the grass under a tree.

That was where she was now.

Her white hair created a stark contrast against the green grass as it fanned out around her head and her eyes were closed. There was a faint smile curving her lips.

All Aisha had ever wanted was adventure. The youngest of five and the only daughter, she had grown up in this gilded cage. Her parents were too afraid to lose the little girl they had prayed for for so long.

Her next older brother was ten years her senior and the eldest had almost twenty years on her. They were loathe to let her leave. She had resigned herself to the fact that she would have to wait until they died before she could leave like the men in the family.

So that is what she did on the nice days. She laid under a tree and imagined all the places she would go and see along with all the things she would finally be able to do.

 

[Bhan]

Aisha Monroe

He let himself be tugged by the currents, until... a shadow loomed over Aisha as Bhan looked down.

"White Rose." Bhan declared stately. "I have come before you commanded by the Gods."

To him this situation was entirely clear.

The Gods commanded him to come and state his intentions. This was all that was required, everything else would sort itself out. What the Skald did not consider was how this would look. A large tattooed and carved man, wild eyes and wilder hair, snuck into a private garden.

"They say you wish to leave this Gilded Cage. I am here to offer my hand, if you wish to take it."

Extending his hand quite literally to her.

 

[AMonroe]

Darkness fell over her and she opened her eyes to see what had dared to interrupt her thoughts and dreams. What she found was not what she had expected. She had expected one of her guards or perhaps one of her brothers had come to visit. This hulking stranger was neither of those.

Aisha heard his words but they didn’t make sense. Well they did but they didn’t at the same time. She suppressed the urge to scream and alert the aforementioned guards that there was a crazy man in the garden. Possibly an unwise decision.

“Wha…who are you? What do you want?” She stammered out. Sure, he had answered the latter questions but her brain was still reeling from there being a very large man in their private garden.

 

[Bhan]

Aisha Monroe

It was not exactly the response that Bhan had been expecting.

Head cocked there.

Somehow Bhan assumed that this one would be a faithful of the Gods herself. Why else would they set him on a path to the South? To take a non-believer out of this cage seemed... blasphemous. Even as that thought entered his mind a searing pain laced through his neck and scalp.

A love bite from the Gods.

"I am Bhan the God-Praiser," His hand moving to rest on his chest. As a salute of sorts. "-I come from the North in search for the White Rose. Trapped in a golden cage. I aim to set her free."

His eyes shifted to the rest of the garden.

"Am I mistaken, are you not this creature?"

No, it could not be, the Gods were never wrong.

 

[AMonroe]

A single brow rose as Bhan the God-Praiser...weird name but okay...spoke.

Was she this creature? Her hair was white...she was in the rose garden...she had thought many times about her gilded cage...it seemed to make sense. What didn't make sense was the fact that some gods had sent him here to set her free. Why? She was no one special. Her magic wasn't anything life changing.

This whole situation was weird.

Aisha slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position and then rose to her full height. She was above average for a woman but Bhan still towered over her. She looked up and studied him for a few moments before speaking again.

"I seem to fit the description but I am unsure why any gods," she said the word with the disinterest of a non-believer, "would take an interest in me..."

 

[Bhan]

Aisha Monroe

Neither did he.

A non-believer in a southern land and city.

One that was still experiencing some turmoil from the siege and sacking a few months back. What was the point of springing her from this life of leisure? Why would Bhan care? Why did his gods? He wasn't sure, but neither was he liable to question them.

"Wiser men than me turned mad questioning my gods." He said with a slowly-looming grin. His arms expanding as if to offer a hug or to showcase the sheer expanse of the pantheon.

"They are dark ones, born of violence and discord."

Perhaps that is the point?

Kidnap a wealthy Allirian merchant's daughter. Would this not be a conflict that could ripple chaos through the continent?

Possibly.

A tsk tsk tsk escaped between his teeth as he looked down on her. "Yet, this White Rose seems disinterested in freedom. Perhaps this walled garden isn't as oppressive and stiffening as she always thought?"

A challenge.

This is what Bhan did. This is true worship to his Gods. To introduce strife and conflict.

 

[AMonroe]

Aisha narrowed her icy eyes at him and smirked.

He was one to play games, she saw. He would goad her into going with him and make her forget she had any hesitations. She had seen her brothers play this game and her father in meetings that she had spied on.

Men enjoyed this game.

Too bad she enjoyed it too.

"It is both of those things but I always hoped my rescuer would be..." Her voice trailed off as if she was trying to think of the least insulting words. "Well...not you..." The smirk that crossed her lips was beautiful and practiced with that hint of trouble that lurked behind the eyes of the rich.

 

[Bhan]

Aisha Monroe

A hard deep laugh.

Booming as he clutched his chest.

"Ahhh, you wished for a Paladin. A beautiful Knight on a mighty stead, ah?" He exclaimed as he ran his hand through the shaved stubble of his head. "Not me. Not an ugly man with harsh eyes, flesh carved and burning zealot's light."

His eyes ran her up and down and smirked.

"You are not what I have been seeking for either, damsel Rose. Soft and curved like a gentle bow. No muscle, no sharp edges born to kill."

She was the perfect Southern belle.

But Bhan always dreamed of a tight-knotted Northern killer. Someone he'd be afraid of at night. Cautious they'd cut his throat while he was sleeping. A murderer fitting for a Skald of the dark gods. Instead... they offered him this.

"Yet, here I am!" A slow stretch that made the brands on his body move. "Always a follower of my gods and they say you are worth this trouble.... but are you?"

 

[AMonroe]

“Ugly is a strong word but the rest is spot on,” she said with a sweet smile that turned into a scowl as he spoke.

Her physique was a sore spot for her. She wanted to have muscles and be able to fight but proper wives of nobles do not do such things. She couldn’t blame him for not knowing her insecurities.

His little remark about her not being born to kill causes a ball of fire to form in her hand and she hurled it at his chest.

“I don’t know…am I?”

 

[Bhan]

He grunted as the fire ball dashed into his chest.

The carved runes in his flesh flared up in anger. Bright blues and reds and other hues, before the heat dissipated. He dusted off his chest and underneath it? Ivory. It was pure bone that had ripped itself through his skin and absorbed the heated fire.

It looked sickening.

And painful.

It began to withdraw again and Bhan smiled painfully.

"Perhaps.... Perhaps Bhan Bone-Whisperer was not entirely on point this time around. Perhaps this White Rose has thorns after all." And now the vikingr was more interested. It reflected into his eyes, greedy and fascinated as they took her in under a new light.

"The more we talk, the bigger the odds your wardens appear, lady. Are you with me or not?"

Aisha Monroe

 

[AMonroe]

The hand that hand flung the fire at him flew to her mouth as she gaped at him. He was not burned by her fire but his flesh had been torn apart by bone. "Holy shit," she breathed out from behind her hand. She felt a little queasy as she watched the bone disappear and his flesh was back.

She wanted nothing more than to go with him and it was what his dark, twisted gods wanted. Shit would get crazy here but she knew her parents would forbid her from leaving and the entire household guard would be unleashed on Bhan.

Aisha shrugged. "I suppose I have no choice if your gods will it so..."

 

[Bhan]

A soft grinding chuckle at her reaction.

"The Gods have blessed me." He responded with a thump of his fist against his chest. Warm flesh now. As if the bone hadn't just ripped through a moment ago. For a moment it wasn't clear to Bhan which way Aisha Monroe, Merchant Daughter, would go. The horrified reaction seemed to be leaning to one way. Then? She surprised him by shrugging and agreeing.

In a very odd way indeed.

"Funny words from a non-believer..." Bhan said sweetly as he offered his hand to her again. "Then away we go... to freedom and away from this cage."

In the distance the Skald could just about hear shouts, closing in, but still far away enough.

The guards seemed to have realized something was amiss.

Aisha Monroe

 

[AMonroe]

This time Aisha placed her hand in his. This was a terrible idea. She wanted to leave so badly that she was running away with a crazy man who claimed that some gods told him to find her. If nothing else, he could get her away from the city and then she could ditch him.

She just hoped she was not trading one prison for another...or...getting murdered. Either was unpleasant.

Aisha's head swiveled at the sound and she smiled once at Bhan before starting to pull him away from the wall. She was sure that was how he got in and how he planned to get out but if the guards were alerted, they would be watching the wall. Aisha brought him to another part of the wall and pushed a shrub to the side. There was a simple door there and she smiled back at Bhan.

This door had been all she had ever had that let her out into the real world. She used it to sneak into the city and be normal every now and then.

"Through the door and then to the right," she said before opening the door and disappearing through it.

 

[Bhan]

Aisha Monroe

He squeezed her hand ever so slightly.

It felt odd.

So soft and warm to his rough and calloused skin. Why would the Gods lead him here, to her? Nothing about it made any sense to Bhan. And yet. Here he was. Ever a faithful follower of his gods. No matter the oddities or strange requests they made of him.

"Ah..." As she revealed the door. "That would have been useful when I first came here."

Bhan followed her through the door and closed it behind them.

To the right it was. The streets were busy here and easy to get lost. Marginally anyway. He'd stand out like a sore thumb in every southern corner.

"I assumed we would be climbing the wall again..." Bhan joked as he followed her deeper into the city. Each step taking them away from her estate. "Hm, maybe we should have robbed your parents, before we left." They were rich as fuck after all.

The raider's blood was pumping.

He took their White Rose... why not take some more from them?

 

[AMonroe]

The squeeze of his hand caught Aisha off guard but she didn’t say anything. She did chuckle at his declaration about wishing he knew about the door before. Obviously he had not asked nicely. She would save him a trip back over. It was the least she could do.

Aisha’s eyes glittered as they fell on his face. Robbing her parents…hmmm…that did sound fun.

“Perhaps we could sneak back in tonight…” She said with a sly smile.

 

[Bhan]

He knew he had her the moment he saw her face.

Perhaps... perhaps the Gods had a point after all.

There was clear hunger for action here. Challenge. The desire to break off with tradition and do something that was entirely unexpected.

"Oh, yes.... yes indeed. They won't expect your kidnapper to return to the scene of the crime." A grin there as he shrugged. "I assume they will think I kidnapped you. Unless you make a habit out of running out of the estate on your own, of course."

He glanced around as they slipped into an alleyway farther away from the walled estate.

All of it so foreign.

"You know of any drinking house or alehouse worth their dime? Gotta do something while passing the time."

Aisha Monroe

 

[AMonroe]

Aisha let out a laugh. She most definitely did make it a habit of leaving the estate on her own but no one knew about it. They would fully believe she was kidnapped and most likely start an investigation to find her. It would be a mess but they had brought it on themselves. If they would’ve just let her live her life then she would’ve been fine.

“Of course, I do,” she would have to bring him to her normal spot which was a good ways away.

She had not let go of his hand as they walked and her felt a slight flush warm her cheeks now. She would lead the way to the bar but she had a few questions too.

“Is there any way to cover your glowing? And where exactly are you from?”

 

[Bhan]

Aisha Monroe

He followed along and held onto her hand.

It was rare for him to touch something so soft. Besides, while he loomed and looked fierce, in truth he was as vulnerable as a young born babe right now. The Gods' guidance was done. He had found the house, sprang the lady from her cage, but they were silent now.

A foreign city deep in the South... every street looked similar to the next.

Truth to be told he needed that hold, because he might just get lost and get killed on the street.

"My glowing?" Confused for a moment and then looking down to his carvings. "No. Even when I wear multiple layers of fur, the shine always remains. It is my sign of devotion to the Gods. The day its light dies, is the day I know they abandoned me."

And may that day never come.

"I come from a place so far north your breath freezes over right before your eyes." He murmured thoughtfully as the drinking hole rose up in front of them. Perhaps it was more accurate to say that it burrowed itself into the ground. It was a building's cellar by the looks of it. The swing-doors open and a warm glooming light inviting people to descend down the ladder into the belly of the drinking establishment.

"This is your ale-house, lady?" Whispered in her ear as he tugged her back, stopping her stride. "Truly, you have far more surprises up your sleeve than just a fireball, do you not?"

 

[AMonroe]

Interesting, Aisha thought. This man probably had quite the tale and she would like to hear it before she left his company. He seemed to be human yet he was blessed by his gods in strange ways. He did not seem like a mad man but she could very well be wrong.

As Bhan spoke of where he was from, a shiver ran down her spine. She had never been out of Alliria before. She had read about the North but she was not sure if she was ready to experience the kind of weather that caused your breath to freeze. She would be gone before they got there. No worries. She would never live in the cold.

"The cold sounds terrible. Why would anyone want to live in a place were your breath freezes?" Aisha asked without thinking about how it probably sounded extremely insulting to him.

The next thing she knew her back was pressed against his hard chest and his low whisper caused that shiver again. Fear...anticipation...excitement...something else...Aisha was not sure and she was also not sure how to react to it.

"Yes, it is. I am soft and I was not born to kill but I am no obedient angel either," her voice was a sweet melody in the crowded streets. "I hope you aren't scared..."

 

[Bhan]

Aisha Monroe

Even as he chuckled at her insolent question Bhan didn't let go of her.

Let her feel it.

That edge between mirth and zealous fury.

And just how precarious she balanced on it.

"Ahhh... only way to live and worship my gods, Lady." Further whispered right there in the nook of her neck. "A harsh life full of challenges to overcome. None of the creature comforts and softness... except for the ones we... take."

Did his hold on her tighten ever so slightly at that last sentence? Possibly. Most certainly.

Again she challenged him. Again Bhan was filled with amusement. This southern creature was almost an adherent herself... or otherwise she never had her teeth knocked out by someone. By the looks of her... it as most likely the latter.

"Fear is a great motivator... but no, not this time." Slowly letting go of her there. "Lead on, I follow."

 

[AMonroe]

Take.

Those fucking shivers ran through her again. She felt his hold tighten around her and she wanted to run. She wanted to pull away and go back home where it was safe. He was not safe.

But she didn't want to leave. Something was compelling her to stay with him. It was like she needed to be with him. No, that was insane. She was just using him until she could get away. There was no supernatural force that bound her to him. That was silly. Gods were silly.

Bhan let go of her and she started to walk again. Once they had entered the hole in the wall tavern, she made her way to a back booth. The inside looked only slightly better than the outside. The booths were in alright shape but they had seen much much better days. The bar itself looked like it had been repaired multiple times with mismatching woods. It was her favorite spot to drink.

"I have never been in the cold," she finally said bringing the subject back to the climate of his home.

 

[Bhan]

Aisha Monroe

He didn't immediately follow.

Instead he watched her go, one step, two, and only then stalking after her. Once Bhan followed, his attention left her and glided back to their surroundings. Eyes wild as they scanned for trouble. In his nordic eyes it was everywhere however.

Streets that held little protection, any protection the civilians carried purely decorative or ceremonial as far as Bhan was concerned.

It was a wonder they were still standing after that horde had come around a few months back.

"Haven't you?" Bhan blinked and suddenly they were inside and sitting down. Body in a state of automatism as his mind had been elsewhere. Too focused on the dangers around to notice any potential danger right in front of him.

"Have you ever seen snow? So much that it covers the tallest building? And then a few inches more? Frost so cold it can freeze a bear as it walks by?"

 

[AMonroe]

Aisha could tell that something was on Bhan's mind. His gaze seemed vacant until he had taken a seat and asked her follow up questions.

"No, we don't get snow here and, honestly, that sounds terrible. Are you really going to drag me up to that? I may die!"

She was not being dramatic. She was pretty sure that she would freeze to death. She was not made for cold. She would just have to leave him before they got up there.

"How do you even function? Like do anything? It seems like snow covering everything would make any fun difficult..."

 

[Bhan]

Aisha Monroe

"If I brought you back up North, they'd probably kill you the moment you step off the ship. Mine or not, they wouldn't be able to help themselves." He says without any shape of malice. No, it was simple fact. His tribe and the ones around them didn't abide by weakness.

And if he brought her back anyway? Knowing that?

It would be a deserved fate.

"I haven't raided in a while." Bhan says with a yawn as he flagged up a waiter. "I will have whatever you are having. I have no clue what fucking southern pisswater goes along as ale here."

Said so clear it would carry over to a few tables around them.

Clearly Bhan didn't care about making friends.

"We will rob your parents. The gold from it will let us buy you some good gear. And then... we will go a viking down the river." He doubted there would be anything worthwhile to rob. The villages between here and the mountains were most likely burned down to the ground by the horde's passing a few months ago. But that would leave them weak and undefended too.

"Zeal burns hotter than fur, princess. My gods shelter me from the frost." His fist thumbing into his bare chest. "Perhaps if you start to believe, they will protect you as well."