by Eric Vall
“Well, don’t wait for me. Go there in the morning and tell them you’re ready to kick ass!” I exclaimed.
Cyra giggled. It was cute to see her loosen up, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever really taken the time to appreciate how gorgeous her smile was. As the night continued on, so did the drinks. Even the food wasn’t enough to kill the steady drunk hum in my head. Alas, as the drinks continued to come, the more I noticed every little detail about Cyra, from the way her dimples accentuated her perfect smile, to the length of her long black lashes as she batted them at me from across the table.
It was well past midnight, and Maelor was beyond gone. He’d passed out in the corner some time ago, but the three of us remained, at least for a little while longer. Braden did eventually stretch and stumble his way out of the booth.
“Should be getting’ back,” he slurred, and I admittedly giggled.
“You go. I’m gonna catch the next carriage,” I replied and smacked him on his shoulder more times than what was probably necessary.
“Remember,” he told me, suddenly very serious, “we have to go in the morning. No take backs.”
I snorted. “No take backs.”
Braden nodded, satisfied with my answer, and he wandered off to find a ride back to the Academy. I, on the other hand, was already well on my way to escorting Cyra upstairs. I tossed a fair amount of coin on the table for the barmaid, and a little extra for her to keep an eye on Maelor.
We were barely in the door when Cyra’s lips crashed into mine. Her nails dragged pleasingly through my hair, and I found I nearly melted under her touch. It was positively, sinfully delightful.
“I’ve wanted this for a long time,” she whispered against my lips, and I ran my hands along the curve of her ass.
“You should have spoken up sooner,” I muttered between hot kisses along her jaw.
Cyra purred and pushed me onto the bed. As I sat myself up on my elbows, she took off her blouse. Each breast bounced as they were freed from the confines of the lacing, and I grew harder as they mesmerized me. Her skirt soon followed, and I moaned as my erection pressed against the front of my pants in an almost painful manner.
She was positively gorgeous. Every inch of tanned skin was flawless, and I couldn’t help but rub at my persistent problem as I drank her in. Her eyes were dark with lust, and she leveled a look on me that made me shiver despite being fully clothed. Cyra, fully nude, climbed on top of me and pressed herself along the stiff bulge.
“Let me help you with that,” she moaned in my ear, and I was helpless except to nod dumbly.
Before I knew it, my clothes were discarded, and I was inside of Cyra with my back pressed to the mattress. My hands gripped her hips tightly as I thrust into her. Our bodies moved together, and I reveled in the slick slide of her on my groin. Her hands balled into fists in her hair, and her thighs shook as we released together.
“Yeah,” she gasped as she lay against my bare chest. “That is probably reason number one of enrolling at the academy: sex with you whenever I want it.”
“It is a perk,” I laughed.
“It’s much larger than a ‘perk,” she giggled, and then our lips met passionately as we lost ourselves in each other again.
Chapter 4
I awoke in the early hours of the next morning to the sound of a commotion outside of the door. Cyra was still asleep beside me, perfectly nestled between my arms and chest, and her hair tickled the tip of my nose.
A smile curled my lips momentarily, but it quickly dissolved when I heard two distinct voices of which I knew all too well.
“Quit ya yappin’! I told ya I don’t know where he is!” Maelor’s muffled voice came through the thick door, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs that sounded more like a herd of wild stallions.
“You miserable old tool! I know he was here last night! I asked his beast of a roommate when I went to fetch him!” Gawain’s not-so-docile tones yelled back, and I rolled my eyes with the desire to simply close them again and go back to sleep.
“Yeah, he was here, but I haven’t seen him!” Maelor retorted.
There was a sudden thud, followed by a sharp cry that finally drew me out of the bed with a little bit of reluctance. Cyra stirred as I slid out from our tangled limbs, and I had the decency to put on the pants that had been left forgotten on the floor before I opened the door.
Gawain was on his knees some ten feet away at the top of the landing, and he clutched at his stomach while he muttered something about having Maelor arrested for assault. Meanwhile, Maelor belly laughed and wiped his nose with the back of his hand.
“Serves ya right, ya pathetic pus pocket,” Maelor managed to get out between howls of laughter.
I rolled my eyes, hands on my hips. “What the hell is going on out here?” It was only after I spoke did either of them notice I stood there.
“This piss weasel came bargin’ in here demandin’ to know where ya were,” Maelor explained. “Scared the snot outta me is what he did! Not to mention disturbin’ the other patrons!”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. The headache that signaled my impending hangover was not a help in this situation.
“Gryff? Everything okay?” Cyra stepped out into the hall with a sheet wrapped around her curvy frame. Her hair stuck out in wild directions, more so than it usually did. It was adorable and actually pretty sexy.
Maelor’s eyes landed on her, and he stared for a long second before his laughter grew tenfold. Tears streamed down his rosy cheeks and trickled into his beard as he slapped his bouncing belly.
“Atta’ boy, Gryff!” the old man cackled, and Cyra and I both flushed.
“Come off it, you old tub of goblin shit,” I groaned, and then I turned my attention to Gawain. “What are you doing here?”
Gawain pulled himself up and used the banister to keep himself steady. “New orders. We need to leave now.”
I froze. I’d nearly forgotten about the mission at hand in my still tipsy state. “What changed?”
“I don’t know, but the Headmaster impressed that the matter was urgent and we had to leave at once,” Gawain growled. “So, here I am, fetching you in the middle of the damn night.”
I tipped my head back with a small whine but nodded all the same. I really wanted to sleep more, but duty called, and I had to answer it.
“Wait for me outside,” I told him before I pointed between him and Maelor, “and don’t either of you start anything again or I’ll kick both of your asses.”
Before they could argue, I ushered Cyra back into the room and stepped in after her. Then I closed the door and locked it before I leaned against it with another groan.
“Off to play hero again?” Cyra teased, and her lips dragged along the line of my jaw.
Oh, how easy it would be to fall back into the bed with her and go another round.
“I’ll be back,” I promised and pulled her flush against me. My hands rested on the small of her back.
“You’d better be.” She giggled in my ear, and I nearly melted at the sweet sound of it. “I’m not done with you.”
I chuckled and kissed her slowly. Her fingers tangled into my hair, and the sheet pooled at her waist. It took all of my willpower not to run my palms over her exposed breasts and tease my fingers lower.
“Go on,” she whispered when we broke apart. “I’ll still be here when you get back.”
Cyra stepped away and crawled back into the bed. She watched me as I changed, naked and exposed, as though she was trying to imprint the image in her mind, a preview for when I returned.
I smiled as I strapped my bag to my hip. As if I’d forget someone as beautiful as Cyra. I kissed her again before I left. “You be good. I’ll write you.”
“I’m never good,” she retorted, “and I look forward to it.”
With a shake of my head, I gave her a final kiss and left.
Downstairs, Maelor was plopped exactly where Cyra and I had left him hours prior, and I was shocked
to see him with a drink that wasn’t alcoholic.
“Water? You feelin’ alright?” I half teased, but it was rare that Maelor drank anything that wasn’t alcohol. Even on the hot days of working our tails off in the fields, the bastard always had a flask of something on him.
“Ah, told Meriden I’d take better care of myself.” He smiled a bit. “She’s a hard lass to please.”
I snorted. “But actually drinking water? You must have it bad.”
“Shut your mouth,” he snipped. He took a few giant gulps from the glass and set it back down with a soft clink.
“Anyway, I’m off,” I told him. “Don’t get into too much trouble.”
Maelor chuckled at that, and he reached up to rustle my hair. “You, too. Don’t make an old man worry.”
I brushed his hand away and gave Maelor a genuine smile. “I’ll do my best.” Then I waved to him and the barmaid who was still awake cleaning up the counter before I made my exit. As told, Gawain awaited me outside, arms folded across his chest as he leaned against the wall of the establishment.
“Are you ready now?” he asked, clearly annoyed that I’d made him wait.
“Sure, whenever you are.” I stretched with a loud yawn, and Gawain rolled his eyes as he hailed for a carriage.
The ride back to the Academy was quiet, and I took the short trip as another opportunity to close my eyes for a little while. I didn’t really sleep, but just the action of resting my eyes helped the headache that persisted. Maybe I should have followed Maelor’s lead and had some water before I left. I was sure the alcohol dehydrated me.
When we reached the stables, Headmaster Sleet already awaited us. He looked about as tired as I felt, even more so, and perhaps frazzled. I wasn’t sure I had ever seen him in such a state. Normally, his demeanor was calm, even in the most stressful of situations. On the flip side, I might have imagined it. The ability to decipher emotions was hard when sleep weighed heavy on my eyelids.
“You’re late,” he scolded, but his tone was gentle as we approached. “I am sorry to press this on you so early in the morning, but it is imperative you leave as soon as possible.”
“Is everything okay?” I asked and tried to wipe the sleep from my eyes.
“Quite,” Sleet replied. “However, I have received word that Ms. Miriam Sharpay will be back to pay me another visit, and she was none too pleased.”
“What does she want?” I scoffed, annoyed that she was the reason I had been woken up well before the sun rose.
“One can only guess,” Sleet replied as he stroked his beard, “but I imagine it has something to do with our conversation from yesterday.”
Gawain frowned. “What conversation is this?”
“I’d love to fill you in on all of the details, Mr. Madox, but I’m afraid Mr. Gryff will have to fill you in along the way.” Sleet ushered us into the stable where there were two horses already saddled and our bags strapped to them. “I took the liberty of having your horses prepared whilst you were in town, so there should be nothing left for you to do.”
The stable hand, a male with long, yellow blond hair and impossibly blue eyes handed me the reigns of a brown horse with a black mane and tail.
“This is Eva,” he told me. “She can be a little finicky at first, but she’s a good girl, nice and sturdy.”
I thanked him and took the reins. Immediately she pulled against them, but after a moment she calmed down, and I stroked her between the eyes. The stable hand then moved over to Gawain and his horse. She was beautiful, cream with dark brown legs, mane, and tail.
“This pretty little thing is Holly,” he told Gawain. “She’ll do anything for a handful of berries, so treat her good, and she’ll do the same in turn.”
I saw the curl of a smile form on Gawain’s lips as he took her reins from him. He held out his hand and allowed her to sniff him before he put his hand gently on her nose.
“You are a good girl, aren’t you?” he cooed quietly, and Holly snorted as she closed her eyes.
I stood, completely awestruck. “You’re really good with horses.”
“Of course I am,” he boasted. “I am from a prestigious family. It’s only commonplace we are well versed in horseback riding.”
“What? Is that a prerequisite for being a wealthy family?” I teased as I remembered Nia also had been raised around horses and tended to their stables to give her a sense of responsibility. It turned out well enough for her, so aside from Gawain being a general sack of garbage from time to time, maybe it had done the same for him.
“More or less,” he joked back, and I was stunned at how easily our banter flowed. I chalked it up to the two of us being too tired to bicker. Yes, that was definitely the case, because there was no way Gawain Madox was actually being friendly. In fact, unless the situation was dire, I didn’t think the word was in his vocabulary.
Perhaps that was too harsh, though. He did have friends, even if they had a tendency to be just as pompous and arrogant as he was. Surely he couldn’t be that bad, then. Unless he bought his friends, which I also wouldn’t have put past him.
I shrugged to myself. There were more pressing matters at hand than contemplating my ever-changing relationship with Gawain. I climbed atop Eva and trotted her outside. She definitely was a good horse, but I could tell what the stable hand meant by being a little finicky. She whinnied and then trotted herself in a circle before I finally got her to settle.
“Everything you need to know is in your mission file,” Sleet told us as we stopped in front of him. “If there is anything else you need, you will, unfortunately, be on your own. With the council on its way, it is likely they will try to intercept any correspondence I receive.”
An uneasy feeling sank into my stomach. Whatever was going on with the council and Sleet was serious, and I had the feeling they would try to interfere with the mission if given the chance. That would explain Almasy and Arwyn’s conversation yesterday. Sleet really was operating this mission under their noses.
Still, if the mission was important enough to the Headmaster to do it without authorization, then it was important enough to me, as well.
“Now, go. May the Maker watch over you,” Sleet said, and with that, Gawain and I were off. I let him lead, content to let him navigate, at least for the time being.
We started off our horses at a brisk walk and worked our way up to a trot as we exited the stable area and clopped down a cobblestone path that I’d never taken before. It was lined with orange trees, and the blossoms had just started to bloom. Stars still lit the indigo sky, even as the very first light of dawn cracked over the horizon. The scene was beautiful, and I mentally captured the image and committed it to memory. Despite the rude awakening this morning, I took it as a good omen.
We were at a leisurely gallop by the time we reached a wrought iron gate. Two guards stood by and held it open for us as we passed. I could only assume Sleet told them we would be coming, otherwise anyone could come and go as they pleased, and that didn’t seem like good security.
We remained at that pace for some time, even as we entered the streets of Varle. It was still early enough that few people were out. Either they were the early risers who were up to set up their markets for the day, or they were the drunks and beggars who hadn’t stumbled their way home yet. The lamp lights that lined the street were still lit and offered just enough of a glow for us to light our way.
I took the opportunity to take in things I’d never gotten to before. For one, there were districts of the Enclave that were distinctly more upper class than some of the other places I’d seen. I thought the area where the Academy was located, at the heart of it all, was fancy, but some of the homes in these areas were beyond anything I could have dreamed of. Never in my life could I have imagined having a pointless statue of a horse decorating my yard, and each house looked more like small castles, immaculate and pristine, as though they were pieces of art as opposed to functional homes.
I looked at Gawain, who didn’t
seem at all phased by the architecture of the area. To people like him, and I supposed in this case, even Nia, this was normal. To people like me, who grew up in the Wilds and didn’t have one single place I could call home, I was a little overwhelmed.
I was glad I let Gawain take the lead because I knew I would be lost already. I didn’t know how someone couldn’t get lost in a place as large and bustling as Varle, but Gawain seemed to know just where to go. I didn’t think he’d ever been this route before, but I supposed he very well could have.
Eventually, we came upon the wall. I was admittedly excited about it, even though I didn’t think there was going to be anything particularly special about it. It was, after all, only a wall, but I was leaving the Enclave via said wall. I’d only ever seen it up close the first time I came to Varle.
As we slowed the horses down, a comedically tall guard with lanky legs and a short, stumpy guard stopped us. They were both clad in standard soldier garb with broadswords sheathed at their sides.
“What business do you have outside?” the lanky one asked, and I was shocked at how deep his voice was.
Gawain answered, “We are mages deployed by the Varle Academy, on a mission to Tietra.”
“Identification, please,” the short one responded and held out his stubby little sausage fingers.
“Excuse me?” Gawain asked, apparently confounded. “Do you know who I am?”
The short, stumpy guard gave Gawain a once over, then stared at Gawain with bored eyes. “No. Identification, please.”
“Oi, Jimmy,” the tall, lanky guard muttered, “he does look familiar, don’t he?”
“Oh piss, Frankie, he’s just an Academy brat,” Jimmy replied, then turned back to Gawain. “Identification or you ain’t getting through, kid.”
Gawain looked between Jimmy and Frankie with a raised brow. He made no such move to show them anything.
“Ah, a wise guy who thinks he’s better than us because he can use magic,” Jimmy scoffed. “Well, you listen here you little shit. Just because you can make things go poof and do your little parlor tricks, it doesn’t give you the right to treat us little guys with no respect!”
