Tainted: The Life of Uktesh Book 2

by Aaron Hicks

  She quickly and professionally poured the apple cider, put out the three bottles of drinks, and said, “’Ave a great day and I’ll see you at practice,” Leilani said.

  “Thank you,” said Laurilli. By the time they reached to the beach the boat had begun to dock. Heathyr and Esolc stood together, both watching the docking boat and Uktesh and Laurilli as they walked toward them.

  When Uktesh and Laurilli handed them their drinks Heathyr asked, “What took so long? Don’t tell me that you were trying to get drinks this whole time.”

  Laurilli said, “No, first we got the drinks and then when we realized we had never set a time to return with them. So we went up the mountain to the forbidden cave, and after Uktesh went in-”

  Heathyr interrupted, “You didn’t! Laurilli I would assume you would, but Uktesh, I thought you had more sense than that.”

  “Hey,” Uktesh said indignantly, “I can fall prey to peer pressure just as easily as anyone else! When the person doing the pressuring is as beautiful as Laurilli is, the pressure changes from, ‘pressure,’ to, ‘I must do this immediately.’”

  “Anyway,” Laurilli said going back to where she’d left off her story, “Uktesh went in there were traps he defused most of them before he had to flee, but after he left we met these masked people who told Uktesh that he either had to finish the trial or leave the island immediately. So he said, ‘Okay,’ and started to walk past them, but they freaked out and said he had to choose. Without smirking at all he said, ‘You gave me two options, only one had a time that it had to be done, immediately, but you never put a time restriction on doing the trial, so I’ll do that when I feel like it.’ They weren’t happy that he’d caught a loophole, and one threatened to hurt me if he snuck off the island. Uktesh broke his mask with his elbow.”

  “You didn’t,” Heathyr said.

  “I did,” Uktesh replied, “no one threatens my fiancée and gets away with it.”

  “Still,” Laurilli said with a blush growing on her face, “that’s when we found out one of the masked people was Charis and that this island is probably where the dragons train. They’re that hand-to-hand combat group that usually wins the tournament.”

  “So you chose to make us wait, thirsty, while you had fun?” Heathyr asked.

  Laurilli replied, “No, we bought the drinks, we just didn’t know you wanted them right away, and once we came back down the mountain we checked to see if you’d gotten them and when we found out you hadn’t we brought them to you.”

  “Next time, just bring them to us, before you walk up a mountain,” Heathyr said flatly.

  “We will,” Laurilli said.

  They watched the people walk down the pier from the boat in silence. Uktesh tried not to feel superior to the people who were obviously new to the island as they gawked at how the women were dressed, or not, as the case usually was. He had a harder time not smiling at the mothers and wives who chided their children and husbands. It took some time, but eventually the flow of people came to a halt without Basam or his kids. “No Basam today,” he sighed.

  “What should we do? We have an hour before lunch and swimming doesn’t seem possible since no one has gone back in the water,” asked Laurilli.

  “We could swim in the lagoon,” said Uktesh.

  “I don’t really want to shower again until after the play rehearsal. Oh, and there’s a leviathan in it.” Laurilli said.

  “Well, we could do some cave exploration, or practice our lines before tonight,” Uktesh said.

  “You just want an excuse to kiss Laurilli,” said Esolc.

  Uktesh said emphatically, while raising his eyebrows at Laurilli, “I don’t need an excuse, just permission.”

  “Which you always have,” she replied and kissed him. “That said though, I do think we should go over our lines. We only have twelve more days before we do it in front of an audience.”

  “Well, if we’re going over Act Two, Scene Three today then Esolc and Heathyr should play your parents. We’ll get our scripts and meet you by the pool.”

  “That sounds good to me,” said Esolc.

  They walked back to their house to get the scripts. Uktesh felt Laurilli’s hand brush his and he held it. When they reached their house Uktesh unlocked the door and they went inside. Uktesh noticed that it was much cooler inside than outside. He fell onto the bed as he said “Wow, we should just practice in here, it’s so nice and cool.”

  He felt Laurilli fall next to him then curl up against him, “You’re right. We should just stay here, but if we do you know my mother will just show up sooner or later,” and she rolled off the bed. She found the three Heroes of Hire jobs that he’d picked out for tomorrow and asked, “Which one of these is for me?”

  With a groan he got up, stretched, and yawned before he replied, “You’ll just have to find out. About your mother though, you’re right. Why do I really want to take a nap before lunch?”

  “Well we did have a late night last night, and a fairly early morning today,” she said as she picked up both scripts and led him outside. He followed her and locked their door, “Plus we have a late night planned tonight, with the rehearsal and the bonfire, so maybe your body’s just trying to get you ready.”

  As they walked to the pool he said, “Yeah, that’s definitely it, but I have no regrets about today.”

  “Not even the fishes?”

  “Not even them, because we’ll always remember that failure fondly.”

  “We don’t fail often, but at least when we do it’s funny.”

  They saw Esolc and Heathyr sitting at a table under an awning and joined them. They practiced their lines until Repus showed up.

  “Where were you?” asked Uktesh. “We know you weren’t with Leilani cause we got drinks from her twice.”

  “I was working on a project.”

  “That you’re keeping a secret from us?” asked Li.

  “Yeah,” said Esolc standing up, “what are you hiding?”

  “Nothing.” He must have seen the disbelieving looks on their faces. “Well obviously something, but you’ll have to wait to find out what it is. What were you guys doing?”

  After a pause to see if anyone wanted to continue to question Repus, Uktesh said, “We’re going over lines for the play.”

  Repus laughed and purposefully pretended to not know who was going over lines, “Heathyr you don’t have to go over lines. Aren’t your lines just, ‘snarl, growl,’ and one death cry?”

  “Hardee har har,” Heathyr laughed sarcastically. “We’re going over Uktesh and Laurilli’s lines.”

  “For tonight?” Repus asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Oh now this I gotta see,” he said and took the empty seat between Heathyr and Esolc. He leaned forward and put his hands on his chin and leaned forward with an expression of anticipation. He gestured for them to continue and said, “Let’s do this.”

  Esolc sat back down and said, “Thou hast decided to face the Beast for mine daughter’s hand in marriage?” He looked at Uktesh and winked at him twice with his right eye and once with his left, to try to make Uktesh break character.

  “I have. I will slay the Beast and prove my worth to thee and thy kin,” Uktesh said without faltering.

  “Thou hast mine blessing in this. Shouldst thou defeat the Beast thy wish will be granted,” said Esolc as he crossed his eyes.

  Laurilli leaned over and kissed Uktesh’s cheek, “Fare thee well mine love, may our love –”

  “The love we share,” corrected Heathyr.

  “Fare thee well mine love, may the love we share guide and protect thee.” She kissed him again.

  “With this kiss I know that no arrow will pierce my armor, nor sword my skin, nor fear my heart. I will come back for thee. Wait for me, I will come for thee.”

  “I will always wait for thee,” Laurilli said, with a look that, unlike all of Esolcs’ attempts, caused Uktesh’s face to heat.

  “That’s not your line,” said Heathyr. />
  “I know, but I think it works. We’ll see if Holyt likes it or not.”

  “That’s it?” said Repus. “That’s the kiss that’s supposed to protect him from arrow, swords, and fear?”

  “This is just memorizing lines,” said Heathyr. “Not an excuse for them to make out.”

  “Alright, but you two better bring it to practice tonight, when dozens of people will be watching you, judging you, and scrutinizing your technique.”

  Uktesh felt his mouth dry and thought, I’ve killed Afflicted, thieves, and an undead master fighter. Why am I so nervous about this? He knew the answer was in his training. He had trained to fight, but he had not been trained to act, although he had grown in skill since he had met Laurilli. “Well, I guess we know our lines more or less. Shall we eat?”

  “Yeah. I’m more thirsty than hungry, but let’s go,” said Laurilli.

  “You two go ahead,” said Heathyr.

  “Okay,” Uktesh replied and held Laurilli’s hand as they walked toward where the food area was. “He’s right, you know.”

  “Yep.”

  “We probably should practice that part of it too.”

  “Yep.”

  “I’m not terribly hungry either. I say we get some drinks, practice our kissing back at our house, and then come back in an hour and eat.”

  “Okak,” Laurilli said as they poured two glasses of sweet berry juice. They drank quickly and put the cups in a bin for dirty cups, plates, and silverware. They walked back to their house. By the time he unlocked the door Uktesh’s heart was hammering in his chest and he knew he was truly nervous.

  He opened the door and held it open for Laurilli, “So I think we should practice in front of the mirror.”

  “Yeah,” Laurilli said and then swallowed and bit her lower lip.

  Uktesh sat on the bed and said, “Who would’ve guessed that signing up for a play would cause this much stress?”

  Laurilli smiled and sat next to him, “Not me.”

  “I think they hid the kissing scene on purpose so that first-time actors like us wouldn’t know what we were getting ourselves into.” He put his arm around her waist and said, “We’re good together alone. I know that and you know that, but how do we transition from alone to in front of dozens of people?”

  “Practice?” she asked, only half kidding.

  “I don’t think people would enjoy watching us make out at the beach, and I don’t think that Holyt would set aside a long portion of rehearsal to us kissing.”

  “I wasn’t thinking that, I was thinking we should have one or two people watch us and give suggestions.”

  “Like who? Your mom? Esolc or Repus?”

  “No, not them. I was thinking Pamfilo or Leilani.”

  “Well,” he said and pulled her in close, “Let see how this goes, and if we need pointers we’ll ask one of them.” She smiled and kissed him enthusiastically, but all too soon she broke off the kiss.

  She was breathing hard, but she smiled and said, “That had to look good.”

  “Did you look in the mirror?”

  “No, I had my eyes shut, didn’t you?”

  “No. Okay, this time we’ll do it in front of the mirror,” he said as he stood up and pulled her up with him.

  This time as they kissed they both tried looking in the mirror as they kept their lips locked, but it just looked bad. Awkward, uncomfortable, and silly as it looked, Uktesh still enjoyed it. They stopped again and Laurilli said, “How about one person looking and the other just kissing?”

  “Okay,” Uktesh said and kissed her passionately. He could feel when Laurilli looked in the mirror, because she became less active. He broke it off this time and said, “Well, that had to be good!”

  “I don’t think so. You look and tell me.” She kissed him and he fought against the urge to close his eyes and just enjoy her. What he saw it the mirror didn’t look terrible, but he realized he’d become less active in kissing her and returned his attention to her lips. When he looked back in the mirror he couldn’t believe how differently it looked than it felt. It felt like it should look spectacular, but it looked like he was eating her face. Laurilli stopped kissing him, and he realized he’d stopped kissing her back for some time. “Well, pretty bad right?” she asked.

  “Yeah, I think it’s because I’m not tall enough yet.”

  “What do you mean, you’re an inch taller than me now.”

  “I know, but you’re so tall for only being fifteen.”

  “It’s my mom and dad’s fault! They’re both tall!”

  “It’ll work out how it works out, but for now I’m just glad I’m taller than your five feet four inches, even if it’s only by one inch.”

  “I think we need help,” Laurilli said.

  “Yeah.”

  They left their house and Laurilli locked it behind them. They hadn’t gone more than ten feet when they saw both Pamfilo and Leilani, both dressed--or undressed--as usual.

  “I think you should be the one to ask them,” Uktesh suggested.

  “Coward,” Laurilli said with a smile, and jogged over to them, saying, “Leilani! Pamfilo!” Uktesh couldn’t tell what they were saying, but when all three turned to stare at him, he felt self-conscious as he walked over to them. Laurilli was an unhealthy shade of red by the time he reached them.

  “So we just need some pointers on how to make it look good. We already know how to do it so it feels good,” she explained.

  Pamfilo smiled and said, “I ‘ave some time ta ‘elp make da play betta.”

  Leilani laughed and said, “If ya ‘ave time ta ‘elp with dat, den I have time ta help teach Uktesh how ta kiss a wooman right.”

  Uktesh exclaimed, “Hey, I know how to kiss Laurilli!”

  Leilani made a strange sucking noise with her lips, that Uktesh took to be a negative sound. “That’s what’cha think now, but befare ya trained ya also t’ought ya knew how ta run,” she said with a predatory grin.

  I guess that’s true! He saw her look change when she realized he thought she was probably right. He raised his hands in surrender and said, “Alright I give up. Teach me the ways of love Leilani.”

  “Where should we practice?” asked Laurilli.

  “Yar house is good enough,” said Pamfilo.

  “Okay,” Laurilli said and together they walked back to the house and Laurilli unlocked it.

  Pamfilo and Leilani sat on the bed and Uktesh stood uneasily next to Laurilli. Leilani said, “We said we had time ta help, but not an infinite amount, so show us what ya got, boy!”

  Uktesh was far more uncomfortable than he thought he would be if he were onstage, but he took Laurilli in his arms and kissed her until he lost track of time. When their kiss ended he turned to look at the stunned Leilani and Pamfilo, “We know it doesn’t look great, but it’s hard to kiss and watch yourself at the same time.”

  “Dere’s room far improvement, but it wasn’t bad,” said Leilani.

  “What? Dat was amazan’ boy!” exclaimed Pamfilo.

  “It was?” chorused Laurilli and Uktesh.

  “Yeah, it was!” confirmed Pamfilo.

  “If he was just kissing Laurilli dat was fine, but as Renkanto kissing Jemysha it wasn’t good enough,” remarked Leilani.

  “I see watcha mean,” said Pamfilo.

  “So what should we do differently?” asked Laurilli.

  Leilani said, “Uktesh, stand four feet away from her and when ya move in ta kiss her, take her waist in yar right hand and den spin her around yar torso so dat she’s only bein’ held up by ya. Laurilli drape both yar arms around his neck while he spins ya.”

  Uktesh tried to do what she said, but neither he nor Laurilli really understood what Leilani wanted. She made a clicking noise with tongue and said, “No, dat’s not it.” She stood up and put her arms around his head. He quickly looked away from what was now right in his face and saw Laurilli smirking. Leilani fell backwards across Uktesh so that he held her in his arms. “From here ya can kis
s her like ya just did,” she said as he fought to keep eye contact.

  Leilani adjusted her feet and stood up. She walked back to sit on the bed and Laurilli took her place. She put her arms around Uktesh’s head and he spun her around, but stopped halfway as inspiration struck. “Hold on, let’s try this again,” he said as he lifted her back to her feet. He took three steps back and decided he was too far away, so he took one forward, before he nodded to Laurilli. She walked to him, as he moved into her, and as she put her arms around his head he cradled her head in his left hand and brought her in for a kiss. He snaked his right arm around her body as he spun her so that he held her up with both hands and continued to kiss her with fervor.

  He heard Leilani and Pamfilo gasp as Laurilli fell against him. He put his arm around to steady her and assumed that he’d spun her to fast.

  “Dat’s ‘ow ya need ta do it t’night, dat was parfect,” said Pamfilo.

  “Yah, dat was good boy,” agreed Leilani. “Next we need ta teach ya how ta kiss ta really make her head spin.” He heard Laurilli give a low moan at that, and he realized that she was unsteady on her feet because of him. Then he felt his face begin to heat.

  “I think dat’s our cue ta leave dem alone.”

  They both left, but not before Pamfilo patted him on the shoulder and said, “Good job boy.”

  When the door closed Laurilli threw him onto their bed and it was a long time, before he could think of anything, but the feel of her lips on his, of her hands under his shirt, and the feel of her skin as his hands stroked her back. With a sudden start he rolled her over and quickly got off the bed, “We need to stop before this goes to a place we can’t go for another nine months.”

  Laurilli sighed, “Nine months? Oh, that. We could get married today, it’s just a guideline.”

  “Your mother would kill us.” Uktesh paused and thought, If we get married in secret we can still have the big ceremony in nine months! He felt his smile grow, but realized that there was a moral obligation to Heathyr, to wait, and his smile dimmed.

  Laurilli asked, “Did you just run into a mother-sized mental brick wall?”