Private Tales You can run...

A private roleplay only for those invited by the first writer

Rayth Keirn

Swashbuckler
Member
Messages
457
Character Biography
Link
Eislyn Gray

soumya-ranjan-2018-05-27-08-37-20-unity-5-5-0f3-personal-64bit-town-unity-level-design-45-pc-m...jpg

"What's your business at this hour?"

The town guard was leaning against a tree by the western bridge. The rain was lightly pattering on his thick leather cloak.

The group of riders slowed to a stop. The cloaks that covered their weapons didn't hide the chargers they rode on. They were clearly bred for war.

One of the riders pulled a little closer. He pulled back his hood, letting the rain fall across his stern expression. He didn't say a word.

"I asked-" the guard was silenced. He slumped forwards, a heavy axe lodged in his spine. A woman stepped forward, placing her boot on his back to yank it free without remorse.

"She's here," said the lead rider. "We get her hands clamped in iron quickly. Kill anyone with her.



Rayth stood by the window in his nightshirt. He watched the whispy clouds passing over the two moons. They were both up tonight.

It was months since he had been at sea. For weeks everything had been calm. They had moved west, from town to town, looking for someone to work with Eislyn to control her magic. He had stopping looking over his shoulder at every turn.
 
Last edited:
  • Love
Reactions: Eislyn Gray
Eislyn's bare feet quietly padded across the wooden boards of their room at the inn. Her golden hair hung freely down the back of her shift. And even though they hadn't found a home of their own, traveling like this? Going from town to town. Even the mines where they'd gotten married a few weeks ago, it all felt like home. Familiar. This life-style was her home now. Rayth was her home now.

She'd stop at Rayth's side, her arms going to loop around one of his as she'd lean against the swashbuckler.

The princess wasn't looking at the moons or the window. She was looking at the outline of his face. They'd gotten word of an older woman who worked at an apothecary. Perhaps she could help them - help her more with her magic. She'd learned so much more since the Paragon but she knew she had a lot left. She'd been raised in a world where anything un-human and anything magical was bad. And she'd only found out of her own magic just before she'd crossed paths with the Paragon. She knew Rayth was worried about her. Even if he didn't always show it. Worried about helping her.

"Come to bed," a quiet plead with a gentle tug on his arm.
 
  • Yay
Reactions: Rayth Keirn
Rayth turn slowly to smile at her. His long, black hair was unbound and loose across his pale nightshirt. Even in the pale light, the shift in his expression was as clear as if it had been daylight. He adored her.

There were worries that might have circled around his head as he mentally chased the silvery moonlight clouds, but he knew they had made the right decisions together. This was more responsibility than he had held onto in his life. Always he had been running from it, looking for adventure.

Taking on real responsibility had him running further than ever before.

"As you wish," he said quietly, turning to hold her.



"Where?"

They had dismounted at the edge of town, leaving the scout watching the horses. At thulis time of night they were noisy.

A man at the back of the group with pale red eyes put his hand Iinto a burlap sack he carried. It was oddly shaped, carrying a variety of objects.

"That Inn, he said in a thin and raspy voice." First floor."

"We silence any staff still awake."
 
  • Scared
Reactions: Eislyn Gray
Eislyn leaned against the swashbuckler, savoring his warmth. His touch. She rested against his chest in bed, the sheet loosely around them. This was one of her favorite moments of every night, no matter if they were camping under the stars, staying in abandoned cabins, beneath the earth with the dwarves, or along these inns. Just herself and Rayth, listening to the beat of his heart echoing against her own in a quiet moment of intimacy.

Her eyes closed only to crack open a moment later as their creaky-door cracked open.

Her immediate thought was that some drunkard from the tavern below had gotten the wrong room. Or perhaps the owners had the wrong room for leaving a meal or bringing up warm water for a late night bath. But the moonlight caught the glint of flashing teeth and several sets of eyes.

Eislyn stiffened and sat up.

"What do you want?" Her voice came out sharp and strong. To awake and warn Rayth beside her and to alert any of the other staff at the inn.
 
  • Yay
Reactions: Rayth Keirn
Rayth rolled off the bed. There was the soft sound of the sheathed knife being snatched from under his pillow. Rayth had been sleeping more deeply than he had been, but not by much.

There was a much louder noise. It was the sound of Iron shackles as two of the group dove straight for Eislyn.

Rayth drew himself to his feet. Her pulled the blade from the sheath and wasted no time. He leapt forwards, bringing the knife down.

A man let out a shrill cry as the blade sank into his back. Other shadows moved from the doorway to restrain him.
 
  • Yay
Reactions: Eislyn Gray
Eislyn's heart throbbed as she saw Rayth leap forward. Time seemed to slow as she stumbled out of the bed, trying to keep the mattress between herself and those that lunged forward. She raised her palms in self-defense, a flash of light leaving her hands and into the eyes of one attacker who swore and smashed into the foot of the bed as he was blinded. The woman with the dark, braided grey hair pivoted and kept coming.

Who were they?

What did they want?

How were they found?

She wondered if these were the Duke's men or her father's or even Rayth's father's.

"I don't want to hurt you but I will," Eilsyn called out a warning as the braided woman came at her with the chains. Her nose picked up the tang of iron in the air. This time a short, shard of light formed in her palm and she launched it at the woman's shoulder. The woman swore but kept coming and knocked Eislyn against the wall.
 
"Get those fucking clamps on her hands," hissed the man in the doorway. There was no panic, no concern there. Just a cold impatience.

Rayth swore as a seaman could. Vulgar profanities as he was dragged away, biting scratching and flailing. A sudden blow from a solid object knocked most of the fight out of him. The haft of the axe to the temple had him go very limp, very quickly.

"Eislyn..." he muttered softly as he struggled to follow what was happening. More of them swarmed into the room, heading for her.
 
  • Cry
Reactions: Eislyn Gray
Even with the fighting and the noise. The sudden crowdedness of the room. She heard his voice.

"Rayth," Eislyn called out, verdants searching wildly for him as he was dragged out. The princess kicked at the woman against her. Her hands began to glow brightly. But then there were two on her. Three. Four. And she felt the iron slap around one hand and then the other.

"Let go of me," years of training as a negotiator made her voice remain calm but authoritative even as they dragged her away from the wall. "Where are you taking us? Don't hurt...," she saw a subtle nod from the man who'd spoken about getting the clamps and there was a sharp thwaaaaap to the back of her head.

The princess of light found herself consumed by darkness.
 
  • Yay
Reactions: Rayth Keirn
Rayth barely held himself back from throwing up inside a hood when he woke. He was on a horse, someone wearing hard armour against his back. His head was pounding. Like a hammer trying to force his own eyes out of his skull.

Fear gripped him next. That had been crawling all over Eislyn. He hoped they were her father's men. The other options didn't bear thinking about. They had come with iron chains for her, they were not common thieves.

For a moment he thought he could try and feign being asleep. He must have jerked away for the man behind him called out.

"This one is up now."

"Come to a stop," called another voice. Rayth had heard it before, giving the orders back at their room.

The hood was whipped away. Rayth squeezed his eyes shut against the light.

The riders were in two groups. Three with him and six around Eislyn. Her hood was yanked away too.

"Time for goodbyes," said that cold demanding voice. He was the rider who had Eislyn on his horse.

"Eislyn is going back to her father. I have no orders for you so you're being taken to the nearest port and sent on a ship west. You will never see her again."

There was no plan for a port. There were no orders for Rayth. It was simply felt by the group that Eislyn would be more compliant if Rayth was safe. Instead he would be left in a ditch a few miles away, throat slit.
 
  • Stressed
Reactions: Eislyn Gray
Her head pounded. Eyes squinted against the light. Rayth.
Rayth.
He was okay. He was alive. As she blinked against the light her mind fought against the remaining fog from being unconscious.
Her father?
Finally her eyes focused. Past the men around her. Past the group around Rayth until she found his eyes. He would see the fear and uncertainty there.

“No,” she finally found her voice. “We will not be separated. You would not harm another member of the royal family, would you?” She tried to twist in the saddle to see the red eyes of the man that held her. It was a risk. Everything now was a heavily weighted chess board. She just hoped she would play the right moves.
 
  • Yay
Reactions: Rayth Keirn
"No more harm will be done to anyone Eislyn," he said firmly. "This young man is going far away and there will be no mention of your trip to Belgrath and what happened there. Is that understood?"

His voice was calm and even. Everything to the letter of his orders and the plan he had formed to follow through on them. They had followed every inch of the trail the pair had thought long cold. They knew everything that had happened.

Jarrod Otl had not informed her father of the wedding. He had no intention of ever letting that even incur the wrath of her father.

"Take him away."
 
  • Scared
Reactions: Eislyn Gray
She gulped.

They knew.

How did they...

She assumed her father would’ve thought she was dead from the Duke’s plan to invade months ago. And she remembered how she used to wear those iron bands. How she’d seen them as a measure of control. Now these chains felt stifling. Almost burned against her skin.

“I understand as long as you understand that if any harm comes to him you will start another war with another kingdom and I doubt my father has the resources to fight on another front. And I will find out if you go back on your word. There is a magical binding that connects us. Do you understand me?”

There wasn’t a spell.

She didn’t know what else she could do. If he kept his word. Maybe it was better to ensure Rayth’s safety. But would he understand? She tried to make eye contact with rayth one more time.
 
  • Yay
Reactions: Rayth Keirn
"Another kingdom? A low rent mercenary from the seas? Is that the lie he told you so he could do the defiling?"

Jarrod didn't care for what the royalty got up to. He was a loyal dog. He knew that her father would be revolted. They wouldn't be able to use her for a political marriage if she had been broken in.

"A magical binding? You're telling me you would know if he died?"

"I'll come for you Eislyn," Rayth murmured.
 
  • Cry
Reactions: Eislyn Gray
Her neck flushed at his blatant words.

“You may work for my father but do not forget who you are speaking to,” she warned the man behind her. “And I imagine you’d want me to go compliantly. The fortress is not close.” Many warnings in her tone. Her stiff posture against the armor at her back.

“And it would do more to me than know. If he died it might kill me. Our life forces are connected.”

They weren’t. But she would continue to play this card because she knew her father wanted her alive. She knew he’d be furious if anything happened to her. And she doubted these men would take the risk. Even if they thought she was lying.
 
  • Yay
Reactions: Rayth Keirn
"Interesting you feel that you have a right to royal treatment after what you have done," he sighed. The man seemed almost indifferent now.

Rayth could see his face. The cold, calculating nature of them man. This was a dangerous person, surrounding by a pack of highly trained mercenaries.

The woman on his left was eyeing him closely. From the bandages he had to assume it was because she was the one he had stabbed in the night. Should have been more accurate with the tip of the blade.

Going out like this without even taking one of them down made the moment even more painful.

He could say that he would come for her, but he knew that there was a limit to what they could do. They were two people against the resources of an entire kingdom. His hands were bound in leather, hers clamped in iron. He could feel his own heart starting to break.

"Stick with the plan, make sure he goes on a ship that is going even further away," Jarrod said. "Say goodbye Eislyn."
 
  • Cry
Reactions: Eislyn Gray
Eislyn twisted more in her saddle.

"And what have I done? Escaped capture. Escaped a plot of execution by the duke. Perhaps I thought it wasn't safe enough to return to the kingdom. And it looks like I was right." Verdant eyes looked at each mercenary without fear. With all the authority she could muster.

Even though she knew it wouldn't be enough.

"At least permit me to say goodbye off this horse," a quieter plea.
 
"No," Jarrod replied. He didn't even raise his voice. He was silently pondering her words. He was a tracking hound, not part of any great plots. He would need to question Eislyn on the way back, ensure he had the truth before should could plead with her father. Not that he was a forgiving man.

He kicked his heels into his horse and rode close enough so that Rayth and Eislyn were just out of arms reach.

"You get this."

Rayth looked at her with pained eyes. There was none of the swagger and confidence she had seen in him at first.

What was he supposed to say? How was he supposed to convey what he felt in their last moments together.
 
  • Yay
Reactions: Eislyn Gray
She wanted him to know how much she loved him. That she'd never stop fighting for him. That if he was safer away from her, she would live that way. He'd see pain flickered in her gaze. She wasn't enough. She wasn't enough to protect him. She'd failed him. Failed them. They should've gone further away. Gotten complacent and now she was going back to a place that would be like a prison for her.

Her only chance was her father.

"I love you," she whispered and Jarrod didn't wait any longer as he spurred their horse forward. Her eyes squeezed closed, emotion welling within them.
 
  • Yay
Reactions: Rayth Keirn
He opened his mouth to call it back out after her, having struggled to even speak in the moment. A hand slapped over his mouth. Eislyn had to ride away to silence as Rayth struggled.

"Better she starts to forget you now lad. That magic stuff sounds like bollocks. You're sleeping in a shallow grave tonight."



"Eislyn," that cool calm voice came after nearly ten minutes of riding.

"I have a very simple question to start off with: why did you not return?"
 
  • Cry
Reactions: Eislyn Gray
A pregnant pause stretched before them.

Her mind whirled. She tried to think of a plan. She always had a plan. She was good at that. She was a negotiator - renowned for her skills and not just because she was a royal. But her mind hit a numb wall. She felt like she'd been torn in two. She couldn't think...she...she had to believe he would be okay.

"Duke Wessel sent an assassin for me. He has mounted armies to march against my father. Rayth saved my life. He should be given a reward and not sent off like an animal. The Duke's armies lay between us and coming back to the kingdom. It was not safe for me to return."

And she'd fallen in love.

Married Rayth.

And chosen a new life.

"Are you going to unbind me or bring me to my father like a prisoner?" Turning her head, she glared at the man with red eyes.
 
  • Yay
Reactions: Rayth Keirn
"Duke Wessel swears fealty to your father. He was in fact the first one to inform him of your disappearance."

Jarrod said this calmly, but the story tugged at several loose threads. Wessel had capitalised on chaos along the coast. He had been caught making alliances that had irked Eislyn's father.

"You will remain bound in iron until we are back."




"How far do we take him?"

"A fair way. If there is magic then best to put some distance between them."

Rayth was back in the hood. All he could tell was that the group rode three abreast, keeping close.

"Hey, how do you want it? Sword to the heart from the front, throat cut from behind?"
 
  • Cry
Reactions: Eislyn Gray
Eislyn stilled. Verdant gaze looked warily around them, searching. She swallowed. If the duke did that. Then all this could be a trap set-up by that devious mastermind.

"Does the duke know of your mission and does he know where we are?"

Wrists shifted against the chains, making them rattle slightly. She winced as the iron bit into her skin. The caw of a hawk was heard from above.
 
"The Duke? He knows your father is actively searching for you through a variety of means. No more."

Jarrod was a focused man. He had one job to do and he was going to do it. Eislyn was going back to her tower. However, he could not help but think of two things. That perhaps there was an element of truth to the lie; it did not seem one that would help Eislyn. Secondly, there could be more money for his band.

They were professionals who routed out anything. Dissent, fugitives and the truth could all be found with the right application of logic and violence.



Rayth decided he didn't want either. He wasn't tied to the man behind him. With the hood on he had no idea how fast they were going or what the terrain was like. With no other option, he threw himself from the saddle.

They had been riding fast. He went as limp as he could, but the pain of the first impact was mind-numbing. He could only listen to his own cries and wait for the rolling to end, wait for the hard ground to stop assaulting his body.
 
"I hope you're right for both our sakes," Eislyn said quietly. If the duke knew about his group? Where they were? She knew they wouldn't survive back to her father's fortress. Even with the number that he had surrounding her now. Even if they were professionals. The duke was growing more and more resources. And he'd already proven he had no problem hiring assassins.

"If the duke does find us," Eislyn continued. "I'd appreciate you taking these irons off me." She'd be able to help even if it was to save her own life. She remained silent the rest of the ride, trying to keep her eyes on the treelines. On the hills. For any sign of the duke's men. Trying to keep her mind off losing Rayth.
 
  • Yay
Reactions: Rayth Keirn
"If the Duke's men find us, then those chains are staying exactly where they are," came the reply. Perhaps that was her ploy. Spot a group of riders on the road and claim they were after her. Use her magic as soon as the chains were off.

"Keep the pace!" he called out. They had several days of travel ahead, but the others would not be catching up until they reached Eislyn's home.



"Crap."

He managed to soft groan, but could barely will his body into action. There was shouting. The sound of horses running. They would be coming around now and would simply run him over to finish this.

His hands had been bound in front of him. It meant he could yank off his hood. His left arm was barely moving, but had to be yanked along. He blinked into the light.

Two shadows were bearing down on him. With his heart thundering to the same beat as the hooves, he rolled and just avoided being trampled to death.

"Give it up!" one of the riders called out.
 
  • Stressed
Reactions: Eislyn Gray