Private Tales Upriver

[Eislyn Gray]

She heard the echo of boots on grotto rocks and spun around ready to...defend herself somehow. Her mind caught up to her eyes as she realized it was...

"Rayth," she breathed and scurried to catch up. There was a second scream. This one sounded a little closer now. Couldn't help the wild glance over her shoulder. With a breath, she plunged into darkness the darkness of the rock. Eislyn assumed he was just hiding her in some secret cave.

"Wait," she managed, a thin layer of sweat made those blonde wisps of hair stick across and over her face. Boots caught on rock and she stumbled.

"Rayth. Stop." Her palm pressed against the smooth stone wall as she caught her breath. "You have to go help Geelyn. There were two."

And where was Brin?

 

[Rayth Keirn]

"Geelyn will have won that fight and be on her way. Or she won't have done," he said grimly. He kept his voice hushed but that didn't hide the emotion behind it. "She doesn't fight cautiously. Now gold my hand and keep moving."

Every step forwards took them deeper into darkness. Rayth kept one hand on the smooth stone wall. It was cold and wet, but it was impossible to get lost here.

There wasn't time to stop and mourn. Brin wasnt coming back from where he had gone. The dwarf would have felt some satisfaction if he had taken the assassin with him. Rayth hoped he had.

 

[Eislyn Gray]

She gulped. Eislyn couldn't help the glance back in the darkness. She thought she could just make out the light from where they'd just come from. Just a crack. Everything else was so dark. Her eyes hadn't adjusted yet. She was walking blind.

Her hand moved forward, groping in the pitch for his fingers until her palm met that familiar sandpaper skin. The princess held tightly, stumbling ahead. Trusting his grip and his pace. She was used to men sacrificing themselves for herself and her family. And she'd always hated it.

It's why, when the Paragon had caught up to them, she'd stepped forward so quickly. Ordered her men not to follow. She hated it when others did that. It made the feelings of guilt feel like they were about to sweep her under. Drown her.

"But if you went back she'd have a better chance," she murmured. She couldn't help it. "What if we get trapped back here?" Why were they going in so deep? Did these tunnels scoot back around to the water front? A different part of the city? What if the Krakals knew about this place, too?

 

[Rayth Keirn]

"This tunnel takes us up to the surface. Above the cliffs. The Krakarl came back before we left so Geelyn will give them the slip. Brin...didn't make it. What did you say that woman was?" Rayth asked.

The path had taken a gentle slope upwards and Rayth kept putting one foot ahead of the other.

"They were here to kill you," he said, as if she would not have worked that out by now. "But they were going to kill us all. Wouldn't have let you hear who had employed us otherwise."

 

[Eislyn Gray]

She blinked and stiffened.

“Mask of Shadows. Assassin’s group. Read about them once. They came after my father when Hannah and I were little,” shocked voice left her lips. She felt detached. Separated from her body and what was going on.

There was a crack of light ahead. Brin. A way out!? Anger. Sadness. Betrayal. Fear. Relief. All these emotions swirled like a tempest inside her.

“But why would they kill the rest of you? You could’ve just...,” voice trailed off. They could've just handed her over. The light grew larger. She could hear and smell the salt of the ocean-fed river. Birds cawed in the distance. And with one final tug she and Rayth were out and standing on the craggy ground if the plateau before the rocks dropped into the waters below.

She squinted against the bright sun. Must've been mid-day. Her hand slipped free from his own. “There was a way out this entire time!?”

 

[Rayth Keirn]

"Yes. And we would have taken it before they had seen us go if that damned..."

Rayth stopped himself short. There was anger in his voice. His jaw clenched shut and he breathed out through his nose. He could spend all day going round and round, knowing that he could have made the call to flee. It would not keep them safe now. It would not bring Brin back.

"We could have given you up. We could have snuck away without talking to them. My mistake and others paid the consequences. Not the first time and it won't be the last."

Rayth turned to face Eislyn. There was nothing but grim determination on his face now.

"I'm out of secrets and I'm out of options. We get you to safety. There is a town a good day's walk along the coast, but we go south away from the water first."

It all hurt. There was pain behind his eyes. He simply didn't have the luxury in examining it right now.

 

[Eislyn Gray]

Hands pushed against her face. Pushed away the damp sweat. Pushed away her hair. Fingerpads pushed against her eyebrows. She looked at Rayth and shook her head silently.

She found her heart lurching at the pain she saw there. That held her up.

"No. Don't you understand? Nowhere is safe! Even if that assassin is dead, the hit is still out. They'll find me. The Mask of Shadows doesn't give up unless you buy out their contract or go to the source. To..." mouth closed and her lips pursed, hands falling away from her face. Duke of Wherlston.

She couldn't say this wasn't his fault. If his crew hadn't taken her maybe she'd be safe with her envoy with the other army by now. Then again, maybe she'd be dead with the rest of them by now. She felt like she wasn't in control of anything anymore. Except maybe one thing.

"You go. Find the Paragon. The assassin doesn't care about you."

Leave her behind. She was tired of people getting hurt for her. And that same feeling of seeing his pain made her shiver at the thought of...if anything happened to him....if...

She frowned.

 

[Rayth Keirn]

"No," he said, placing his hands on his hips defiantly. Rayth stood still and dared her to contradict him.

The die had been turned over once again. He wasn't the exuberant youth, wasn't the curious noble. This was the first mate of the Paragon, who could keep a hardened crew working towards their goal with determination alone.

As he met her gaze he frantically tried to put together some kind of plan. Everything required money or leverage with the Duke.

 

[Eislyn Gray]

Shock, fear and anger were hard to separate sometimes.

Princess Eislyn Gray was certainly not a crew member of the Paragon. Nor was she used to taking someone else's orders. Even during her short time as a captive. That time was clearly over. The tides had shifted and the game had changed entirely.

She was a strong-willed girl. And even though his sudden change in expression. His height and posture made her pause. It didn't make her stop.

"No? No! I'm not going to let you do this for me. Just go," taking two quick steps with an angry swirl of skirts to close the distance between them, her palms reached out and would push against his chest. To push him away.

 

[Rayth Keirn]

Part of his mind was still in the mode of a fencer. As she stepped forwards he dropped his weight, slid one foot back and braced. She struck his chest hard but he barely yielded an inch. He leaned back into her weight.

"That doesn't help anything. Just as much chance they track me down as you. Look I am not...pleasestoppushingme...going to order you around any more. But we might as well stick together now!"

 

[Eislyn Gray]

Hands pressed flat against his shirt. Elbows locked. Hinged at the waist. Braid of hair fell down one of her shoulders. She tried budging him, moving him back.

Breath came out in quick, short gasps.

Damn him. Why...was...he....so....strong?

Butt stuck out as she paused against him. Feet stopped trying to push off the gravel and stones. It would be rather comical if the situation wasn’t so dire. Head tilted up to look at him, her hands withdrawing as she straightened.

“You are so stubborn.” Pot calling kettle.

 

[Rayth Keirn]

"No...well...yes..."

Rayth's expression shifted through a myriad of emotions. He wished that everything was clear, but it was all fogged up.

Why would they hire such an expressive assassin to finish the job? The Paragon crew were not cheap to hire but this had to go further. Could the Duke have anything to gain by sending her father to war?

Some things, however, were perfectly simple.

Rayth placed his hand on her shoulder. With a face full of anger, regret but compassion too he let his hand glide all the way up to her cheek. He didn't even flinch against the incoming slap.

"I'm not letting them catch you."

 

[Eislyn Gray]

That touch froze her. It undid her. Calloused hand gliding on fair skin. That determined part of her was determined not to let him see it. Not let him notice the way her breath hitched in her throat. The way his fingers brought fire to her flesh. The intensity of his attention.

She tried not to show it; She failed miserably.

She didn't know if she wanted to slap him or kiss him. Pull him closer or push him away. She’d shared a look with him behind the falls in the pool. For a flicker of a span of a second. This time she had no rock to turn to. No place she could divert her attention.

Fingers twitched at her side.

Lips parted.

“Don’t do something stupid,” she whispered. Hard to say what that stupid was. Stay for her. Risk his life for her. Let go of her. She quickly realized the last thing she wanted was for him to move that hand away from her cheek.

 

[Rayth Keirn]

A melancholy smile touched his face at her whispered plea. There was more vibrant colour in that smile than any that had come before. It was impossible to create a true picture if you only painted in mirth.

"I can be terrible..." he whispered back. His fingers pushed forwards into her hair, gently wrapping around the back of her neck. Rayth anchored her in place, tied to his resilience, as he took half a step forwards.

"...at doing what I'm told."

He thought of her brilliant smile as she came up from that dive in his arms and everything dark and confusing in the world melted away. Rayth closed the last inches between them. A final warm breath across her lips was followed by his own.

Rayth probably should have braced for the inevitable punishment for such a bold move, no matter how much it felt like the right - or wrong - thing to do.

 

[Eislyn Gray]

His lips tasted like surf and salt. The anger at the tips of her fingers began to fizzle as a different kind of heat spread from her core. Rayth would find that the princess actually kissed him back.

Her mind tried to be logical. They should be doing a thousand and one other things right now. She should be smacking him away. They should be running. They should be coming up with a plan. Mourning what was lost. It was like trying to grasp at clouds.

He'd promised he'd never hurt her. She didn't know if he could stick to that promise now. The fence they'd stood on opposite sides was all but gone. She didn't know if his kiss was born out of their circumstances or a stronger foundation that might grow. She hoped it was the latter. Even if she didn't know how or what that would look like.

Logic was fleeting. Just like those clouds. Just like the wind against her skin on those cliffs. Red lips pressed back against the face that she should probably be slapping instead of kissing.

 

[Rayth Keirn]

Even though she did not embrace him fully, she certainly kissed him back. He placed his other hand at her waist and Rayth could feel the last of her qualms simply melt away. His heart soared, carried high by the sense of elation that swept through his body.

Rayth didn't search for answers in that kiss. In those fleeting seconds - seconds that would occupy his thoughts for some time to come - he thought of nothing but Eisyln. How warm she felt pressed up against him in spite of the wind, how well they seemed to fit together.

He gasped for air when he broke the kiss, but he did not release his hold on her. Pressed forehead to forehead he opened his eyes and gazed into hers. Suddenly, this was their own private world and his voice was barely a whisper to cross the miniscule divide left between them.

"I won't let them take you," he repeated. The promise seemed to carry more weight this time. There was nowhere to hide here in this private space. "If reach a town they will never find us."

 

[Eislyn Gray]

Small, warm puffs of air washed against his mouth as she stayed leaning against the swashbuckler. Fingers had curled lightly around his sides, earlier twitching indecision settling away. His hair tickled against her face. Tip of her nose brushed against his.

Gaze flickered upward, meeting his eyes. And she knew she wouldn't be able to change his mind. And she knew she didn't really want to anymore. A steadying breath filled her chest, trying to still the hammering beat of her pulse.

Three words. Three simple words that she hoped would mean a great deal to him. Words she couldn't mutter easily to nearly anyone.

"I trust you," Eislyn whispered back.

She wanted to stay like this, pressed against him. Exchanging whispered secrets and promises. Stealing kisses and borrowing warmth. But Rayth had spoken a very real if. If they made it to a town. Eyes closed as resolve began working its way into her face. Fingers squeezed lightly against his sides. Just a moment longer.

One moment.

Eyes opened, fingers loosened.

"We have to go or else you'll break one of your promises to me." A sad smile touched her lips as she began withdrawing and looking toward the dark woods further in.

 

[Rayth Keirn]

She should not have been able to trust him. Not after everything that had happened. Despite his insistence that she should, he now wasn't certain that he had truly earned her trust. It only made Rayth more determined to reward her faith in him. He would see her safely away from this mess.

His heart was hammering away and he had to tear his thoughts away from Eislyn and back to the wider world. He wished that he had kissed her back in the pools. He could have hitched that shift up beneath the water and taken the time to absolutely shatter those promises.

"Well, if we put some distance between ourselves and the coast by sun down we may need a distraction to stay awake..." he mused with a one sided smile that carved a dimple into his cheek.

Rayth turned and pulled her after him, setting a quick pace towards the safety of the treeline. His steps felt a little lighter, bouyed by the elation that still carried him.

"Does you father have many enemies?" he asked. This all seemed far more complicated than it should have been.

 

[Eislyn Gray]

She couldn’t help the glance over her shoulder, worried that she’d see that black-clad assassin appear from the cleft in the rock. Or worse. Geelyn staggering with a mortal wound. But the plateau remained empty save for the wind.

“Distraction?” She huffed, trying to match his pace. Eyes narrowed, though the corners of her lips twitched. They still tingled with his taste. “Don’t make me regret giving you an inch.”

After running a few more yards, their feet transitioned from hard rock to soft pine-needles, dirt, and roots. They had to weave their way between the placement of trees and branches.

“It would be easier to list those on his side rather than all those against him,” she mused quietly. Other like-minded Xenophon humans supported him. But everyone else? He held a strategic location at the base of the spine. Maybe even his so called supporters like the duke wanted to vie for that territory.

“The duke and my father have had a supportive relationship. I’m surprised he...,” voice trailed off. She remembered him coming to visit when she was a child. It hurt to know he could so easily order her killed and disposed of.

“He was like an Uncle to me,” voice strained and lips pressed thin. “Why would he hire you both?”

 

[Rayth Keirn]

A truly crass joke at her concern over regrets was caught in his throat. Rayth had been at sea for far too long. Many years seperate him from his elocution lessons and rigorous training in dining etiquette. The promise he had made still stood in his mind. There was still a core of the gentleman they had once tried to make of him. She would have to relinquish him of that responsibility before anything inappropriate could occur between them.

"The arrangement for a second ship I can almost understand," he said slowly as they marched for cover. "Obviously we weren't willing to lower ourselves to that. Just to...you know... But it's the assassin. That just speaks of a determination to put down more coin than makes sense. It feels...personal.

"The Duke had plenty of gains to make if you didn't turn up to negotiations. He could blockade their ports and they wouldn't work together to stop him. His port city would remain the centre of trade for this stretch of coast. I don't understand what he has to gain from..."

A mental image passed through his mind. Eislyn slumping from the end of that two-pronged spear. The assassin reaching for a wicked knife to claim a trophy she could return for proof of fulfilling the contract. He much preferred the mental images he had sustained just moments before that filled him with warm anticipation instead of nausea.

 

[Eislyn Gray]

Personal?

Mind churned as her hand slipped free from Rayth's to adjust the straps of her pack along her shoulder. She ducked beneath a lower branch, the twigs trying to pluck at her hair. Her frown deepened.

"I don't know. Maybe my father did something to him."

Eislyn wasn't sure. Fists clenched at her sides and she gave another glance behind. The clear view of the plateau was all but covered by the trees. The woods were making it seem darker, too. Not so much open sky to let light in. Had Hannah been promised to wed one of the Duke's eldest sons? Surely, the Duke would've understood how that couldn't be due to her death. Eislyn had never been privy to those conversations.

"Wait," she huffed. "Do you know where we're going?" This wasn't like the sea or the river where the sky was open. She didn't want to flee an assassin only to die because they got lost in the woods. Her escape pack didn't have that much food and water. Some. But not enough to get lost out here beyond a few days.

 

[Rayth Keirn]

"Roughly. These things get planned out. There was always a chance the hidden cove city was still used by smugglers. We keep heading inland and we find a road that heads west. Follow that and we reach a crossroads. Head back towards the coast and we reach the town of Hartbury. If we have to walk the whole way then it's two days I think. You have to do much walking recently?"

He turned to face her. With a sidestep he used his back to move a branch out of her way. Her own clothing wasn't so suited to moving through the trees but the foliage looked less dense ahead.

"That's not a joke or a veiled insult to be clear. Just want to think about how we schedule rest."

Rayth couldn't keep the confident visage of that assassin from mind. No amount of self-confidence was going to make his swordsmanship a match for that one. Assuming that Brin hadn't crushed her. If she caught them then he might end up in the same position as the dwarf, having to give up his own life to give Eislyn a chance of escape. Hopefully he could avoid being put in that situation.

 

[Eislyn Gray]

She couldn't help the slight stiffening of her shoulders at the planning comment. Of course he'd known another way out the entire time. Didn't want her wandering off in case she hurt herself. Her derriere. What else was he withholding?

"No," she admitted thoughtfully. That first journey out of the iron fortress had been her first long trek on foot. She still remembered the blisters she'd gotten and the sharp aches in her calves the first week. "These days I mostly travel extended distances by riding saddle or in a carriage."

She watched her feet carefully, placing steps so she didn't get her foot caught in the roots. A twisted ankle was the last thing they needed.

"I'm just glad I had my boots on instead of those slippers." Otherwise, she would've been in serious trouble.

Verdant gaze flickered up from the ground to Rayth. "I'll slow us down," she admitted quietly. She knew what that meant. A greater chance the assassin might catch up to them. She took a breath.

Was he sure he wanted to do this?

 

[Rayth Keirn]

"You probably will, but it's important you don't try and push beyond your limits. If you need us to stop briefly then say. And if your feet really hurt to. Better to wrap any sores. It is not as if I get to talk long distances when I spent my time on a ship as long as a stone's throw."

He edged across a thick root to cross a small, wet ditch. The woodland started to open up. The soil was thin here and trees only grew in patches.

"How long would it take to reach your home by horse?" he asked. He had coin, but he wasn't certain it was enough for horses.

 

[Eislyn Gray]

Hitching her long skirt in her hands, she took a small leap to cross that same ditch. Looking around, she was relieved to see that she didn’t have to worry about snagging branches anymore. But the light from the sky was still waning. It was getting closer to sunset. Oranges were beginning to spread across a deeper indigo.

It felt good to be out of that smuggler’s den.

Grateful eyes flickered to Rayth. She was glad he’d said something. Because she would’ve pushed it. She could be stubborn even with undesired consequences. People always assumed because she was royal or because she was a girl that she was weaker. She liked to prove those people wrong when she could.

“Too long. Would be better to use portal stones. But I,” she paused as they came up to a small stream crossing, eyes searching for the best rocks to hop across.

“Don’t know if I want to go back.”

It would be like going to another prison. She’s only be safe inside those walls but who knew for how long?

“I need to confront the Duke.”

That or disappear. She wasn’t sure if she was ready for the second one.