by Joe Jackson
He sighed again just thinking about it. He wanted her to be his mate and become a part of the Silver Blades so that they would always be together, but she insisted on sticking with her evil and spiteful career until she was “finished.” She always went back to the assertion that she couldn’t just walk away, and Aeligos wasn’t naïve enough to think otherwise, but whenever she talked about working to get away from her life of crime, or of how she had no choice in pursuing it, she always left out some detail. His only conclusion was that there was something else, and the way she pursued her goals led him to believe that what it ultimately came down to was that she enjoyed her work. In the end, whether that was the case or not, Erik absolutely despised Eryn, and being caught between them, it laid a lot of stress on Aeligos.
Aeligos grunted, frustrated, and tried to clear his mind of the thoughts as he made his way downstairs and out of the inn. He thought of Grakin and Kari and how perfectly – seamlessly, he might go so far as to say – they went together, and considered that perhaps he should simply give up trying with Eryn and find someone like Kari. Kari and Eryn shared many characteristics, but their biggest difference seemed to be their past: while Eryn succumbed to the evil of her father and his lifestyle, Kari had risen above whatever she hid like a wounded heart. Aeligos smiled as he thought of his sister-in-law, and wondered if she and Grakin would decide to tie the knot, as it were, taking part in the human tradition of marriage. While a rir mating was much the same, the rir had taken to the human custom quite easily, appreciating the symbolic and physical tokens that each swore to the other. Aeligos’ own parents had taken part in such a ceremony, and though their relationship ended quite bitterly after Typhonix’ first birthday, Aeligos still had an enduring respect for the commitment.
He intended, as the innkeeper had detected, to find himself a woman for the night. His siblings – and everyone else, for that matter – never took his ‘lifestyle’ well, but they never understood his reasoning. Aeligos loved Eryn and his dedication was to her; the other women he slept with were simply a means to an end. He always found that a warm, happy, satisfied woman lying in bed beside him was far more willing to divulge sensitive information and secrets than anyone he could bribe with coin. Sonja and Erik were by far the most judgmental of his siblings about it, but none of them understood the big picture. Eryn knew why he did what he did, and it didn’t bother her in the least: he always went back to her.
Aeligos passed into the heart of the city, and he looked around at the cozy structures that marked it as a community rather than a loose conglomerate of people sharing the same living space. It was a warm town: he could sense it simply by looking at the way it was built and laid out, with its main avenues stretching in the eight cardinal directions from a circular central plaza. There didn’t appear to be any richer districts, the city uniform in the quality and beauty of its structures, and he wondered if he would even be able to find what he was searching for. His travels took him to the outskirts of town on its western edge, from which he could see sprawling farmlands where the plain extended to the horizon to the southwest and a glittering, breathtaking inland bay to the north and west. The city sat at the end of a short peninsula that jutted to the northeast, and he got a good look at the road leading off of it, presumably toward the cities of Dune and Kulthon. He turned back into the city after a few minutes to continue his search.
He walked the city for a while, looking for any suspicious characters or other signs that the city might have a thieves' guild or at least a gang that acted like one. Shockingly, his efforts turned up nothing, so instead he decided to check with the common citizenry to see if they could offer up similar information. He found a general goods store and headed inside. There were no customers within, so he approached the counter and was greeted by a young female shakna-rir in a simple tunic and breeches. “Good afternoon. I’m wondering if you carry information, and how much you charge for it," he said bluntly to gauge her reaction.
She looked him over for a few moments before responding, and he did the same to her. She was pretty, with bright scarlet hair and matching eyes like Aeligos' sister. She smiled after a minute and leaned forward on the counter, crossing her arms on its surface. “What did you want to know, handsome?” she asked.
He looked around again to make sure no one else was there, and there was concern on her face when he turned back to her. He smiled to ease her tensions, and said, “I’ll be honest: I’m interested in what you know, or even just what’s being said about Braxus Gaswell.”
“Oh!” she exclaimed. She stood up straight, the smile fully returned to her face. “And what would you be willing to trade for such information?”
Aeligos laughed and rolled his shoulders back so that his wings popped free of his cloak, and he folded them behind himself. “What is it you’d like?” he asked evenly. He wanted it quite clear what she would be getting if she decided that a personal favor was in order.
If she was at all deterred by his demonstration that he was half-demon, she didn’t show it. “I close shop at sundown, how about dinner and dessert, unless you have other plans?”
“I don’t,” he said with his boyish grin. “And that sounds fine, but we can’t go back to my place unless you want to dine with my siblings.”
The girl laughed. “What’s your name, dark-eyes?”
He thought to himself for only a moment; in this situation, it would be harmless to use his real name. “Aeligos,” he said. “And you?”
“Ellena,” she said, her red eyes sparkling. “Ellena Illurasti. So you want to know about Gaswell…well, not much news about him comes up this way since he’s so far to the southwest, but I’ll tell you what I know. He’s trying to push everyone who’s not terra-rir off the island either by threats or by force, though he hasn’t actually attacked anyone yet. There’s a lot of talk that he wants to attack the Isle of Kirelia like his ancestor did, but since he chases off anyone not terra-rir, it’s hard to get any real information. So, did that buy me dinner and dessert?”
Aeligos chuckled. “Not just yet,” he said. “Tell me about your people; what do they think of all this?”
Ellena shook her head. “I was born and raised here in Tingus, so I don’t really know what the queen thinks of Gaswell,” she said, and she glanced at his wings. “You know, my people aren’t afraid of your kind, so if you went to Kulthon, I’m sure either the queen or one of her people would be willing to talk to you. Why all the interest in Gaswell?”
“I’m interested in helping to stop him, if anyone has already taken the initiative to do the same,” he said somewhat honestly. “So, where do you like to take your meals?”
“There’s a nice little inn around the corner called The Lonely Shepherd.”
Aeligos nodded and flashed her one last smile. “I’ll see you there a half hour after sundown,” he said. Once she agreed, he made his way back out into the city.
Ellena followed him to the door and leaned against its frame, watching him stride across the plaza and down the eastern avenue, and once he was out of sight, Aeligos laughed to himself. He hadn’t gotten much in the way of information that he didn’t already know, and he found it comical that he had found the one thing he didn’t really need. He checked the position of the sun, judging when he would need to return to the inn and let his siblings know he’d be out for the night. He wondered if Sonja would be suspicious of his excuse that he was working on getting more information, and that brought a less amused chuckle from his lips.
The afternoon passed quickly, the half-guardian taking in nearly the entire city to find that his earlier observations regarding a thieves' guild had proven mostly correct. It was a nice city, but a bit too quiet for him. Aeligos had always preferred the hustle and bustle of Latalex and its extraordinary nightlife that was always full of intrigue, adventure, and danger. His was the life of the infiltrator, the rogue, moving in the shadows and finding what he sought without leaving a trail back to himself. In Tingus, it seemed that despi
te a fairly large population, it still had a small-town feel to it, and he got the impression that not much stayed a secret for long. Such might have meant that using his real name or expressing his intentions might be foolish, but he dismissed it; it seemed news came to and left Tingus slowly.
He returned to The Sand and the Strand just before the dinner hour and found the others already there waiting for him. The humans were both dressed in fine suits of chainmail with white tabards to help deflect the sunlight. They had well-crafted greatswords leaning against the wall, and the twins looked to their leader expectantly, waiting for his judgment. Aeligos wasn’t sure how the locals would view the group being well-armed and armored, but with the rumors of trouble to the southwest, he assumed it wouldn’t seem out of place.
“You look good,” he said with a nod as he approached the table. “The armor’s not too heavy for you, is it? Chainmail isn’t the type of thing you can wear all day.”
“It will take some adjusting, but it’s not too bad,” Katarina said with her disarming smile. “At the very least, we’re used to the heat from back home.”
Aeligos looked around the common room. There weren’t many patrons in the dining area, so he turned back to the group. “I’ll be out working this evening, so have a meal and don’t stay up too late. Pretend Erik is here to yell at you. I’m not sure if I’ll be back, so don’t wait for me. So far I haven’t found out anything that we didn’t know, but I’m hoping that will change.”
“Do you need any help?” Grakin asked.
The rogue shook his head. “No, in fact, it’s better if I’m the only one asking,” Aeligos said. “Best that all paths lead back to me, if they lead anywhere at all.”
“Be careful,” Sonja told him, and Aeligos bid them goodnight before leaving again. His legs were getting sore from having walked the length of the city several times over the course of the day, and he looked forward to having a relaxing dinner. His thoughts turned to the shakna-rir woman he was on his way to meet, and her charming smile and sparkling eyes stood out most prominently in his mind. He wondered if he could ever have a meaningful relationship with such a woman. His was a life lived on the road and in the shadows, and unlike Eryn, the girl probably didn’t have the background or experience to know how to handle it. Eryn understood Aeligos, and she could not only live with the stress of his dangerous role among the Silver Blades, but also deal with the other demands of his work; Ellena likely couldn’t. Of course, the entire train of thought was irrelevant: he would be gone within another day and likely never see her again.
Aeligos pushed the thoughts aside, determined to at least enjoy the time he would spend with her. His footsteps took him toward the western side of the city as the sun dipped below the horizon, and it didn’t take him long to find the inn Ellena had described. He nearly laughed aloud when he saw the sign above its door swinging in the breeze, depicting a shepherd sitting on a rock, head in hand, with a pool of blood on the ground before him. Aeligos imagined the mutton must be especially good, but before he stepped within, he ducked into the shadows of a alleyway nearby.
He watched the inn for nearly twenty minutes before he saw Ellena enter. She was alone when she approached, and she stepped inside without even looking around, which eased Aeligos' tensions. He stepped out from the alleyway and walked silently into the inn’s common room, and he joined the young woman at the table she’d chosen by the hearth. He wondered for a moment why the inn would even have one given its geographical location, but shrugged off the thought and took the seat across from her.
Ellena smiled when he sat down, and he touched her hand lightly. The barmaid brought over two ales and then two plates of – as he’d guessed – hot mutton and potatoes. The two ate and chatted lightly, and she told him as much as she could about the island and her people. She related that Tingus was the name of a general from Kulthon who’d captured the city several hundred years before, and that the peninsula was called Kroth’s Point after the shakna-rir warlord who’d previously held it. Aeligos listened to her brief history lesson while they finished their dinner and their drinks, and once they were done she stopped talking and looked at him as if waiting for him to talk about himself.
“So what kind of dessert do they serve here?” he asked, in no mood or position to reveal anything that might be potentially damaging.
Ellena grinned, put her elbows on the table and brought her hands together beneath her chin. “You are the dessert, silly,” she said.
Aeligos laughed, his mirth serving to mask the more appraising glance he gave the girl. She seemed younger than he’d initially thought when he met her at the shop, and the way she nursed her ale ever so slowly confirmed his suspicions further. He ran his hand through his hair after a moment, looked up at her from a strange angle, and flashed his boyish grin again. He didn’t want to give her the impression that he was judging what he saw. “So why did you want to come here, are your parents at home?” he ventured.
“Aye,” she said as she leaned to the side and crossed one leg over the other, her smile still broad and enchanting. “I’m hesitant to ever bring young men home; you know how fathers are about their little girls.”
Aeligos grimaced inside but kept his expression neutral; that was not what he wanted to hear. “Especially when it comes to half-demons,” he said.
Ellena chuckled. “No boy is ever good enough for papa’s little girl, but you…well, let’s just say that should I bring a half-demon home, my father would have a fit, regardless of how my people feel about yours.”
That was the typical reaction for a rir woman to a half-demon, and what Aeligos had expected when he first spoke to her in the shop. His boyish smile and good looks could usually get him past that hesitation, but he found Ellena’s lack of hesitation alarming. “That’s where being a half-demon has its advantages: it’s hard to find something less desirable to bring home to one’s parents,” Aeligos said with a chuckle before he picked up his mug and took a sip.
Ellena laughed, and between the sound and the look in her eyes, Aeligos could tell she was already getting intoxicated. “So, is it true what they say about half-demons?” she asked.
“You’ll have to be more specific,” he said, “since a lot gets said about my kind.”
“I’ve heard that other races aren’t nearly the lovers that half-demons are,” she said, barely able to stop herself from giggling.
Aeligos chuckled again through his nose and then finished his drink, and he cast his dark-eyed gaze across the common room. The other patrons appeared to be paying no heed to the couple or their conversation, and he raised a single finger toward the barmaid when she met his wandering stare. He turned back to the young shakna-rir woman before him and waited for the barmaid to bring him another drink. His warm smile settled into a more measured, intent gaze. “A lot of what they say is just conjecture,” he said, “but some of it’s true. I don’t think I put any other men to shame, but let’s just say I’ve never left a woman unsatisfied.”
Ellena leaned forward on the table and a giggle escaped her as the alcohol settled in a little more. “Oh, so you’re experienced? You’re not mated, are you?”
“Not as such,” he said, and he gave a nod of thanks when the barmaid placed his ale on the table and quickly departed. He took a slow sip from the drink, keeping his eyes locked with those of the young girl. He placed the mug back on the table and licked the foam from his chops. Ellena continued to smile at him, oblivious to the intent behind his stare, and Aeligos turned a sigh inward as he considered his next words. “So, shall I go get us a room?”
The young woman seemed to sober up a bit. “A room?” she stuttered. “I…I’m not sure I’m quite ready for that.”
Aeligos leaned forward on the edge of the table and nearly burned a hole through the shakna-rir girl with the strength of his gaze. “Oh, come now, you didn’t honestly ask me here for dessert just to tease me, did you?” he asked. Her reaction clearly told him that she had, and that now she was gr
owing nervous. “I’m only going to be in town a few days, and was hoping to sample the local fruit before I move on to your capital city.”
“Gods, my father would kill me!” the girl blurted.
“Then what are you doing here?” he asked evenly. Ellena straightened up as he took a tone akin to what he expected her father might sound like when angry. “Let me be quite clear, young lady: if I were a half-demon of another kind, I might not take no for an answer. This is a dangerous game you play, and your father would throw a fit for good reason if he knew you were out here doing this. There are a lot of men – and not even half-demons – who would be fully willing to take advantage of you, when you think you’re just being cute and teasing them. Your father’s job is to keep you away from men like that, and like me. How far away do you live?”
Ellena was nearly on the verge of tears. “Not far from here, sir. Just up the road.”
“I’ll take care of dinner. Thank you for your company, but I want you to head straight home, right now,” he said. The girl rose without hesitation and scrambled from the inn as quickly as she could, given her state. The others in the tavern regarded the girl as she left and then their gazes fell over the rogue briefly before they returned to their own business. One of the barmaids followed Ellena out the door, and Aeligos hoped she would escort the girl home.
Aeligos sat back in his chair and blew out a long sigh, and he’d only closed his eyes for a moment before the hand of the other barmaid fell on his shoulder. The human woman gave him an appreciative nod when their eyes met, and she left a fine cigar on the table before she made her way over to the other patrons. Aeligos tucked the cigar in a concealed pocket on the inside of his leather breastplate and took a long, final sip of his ale. He left two gold coins on the table and made his way silently back to The Sand and the Strand.
*~*~*~*
The Silver Blades spent the following day and night in Tingus, and then took to the road. Aeligos decided it would be best to travel to Dune first and see if they could find a caravan headed into the desert. He knew little of desert travel other than the obvious, and was concerned that his human charges would be less prepared for the moisture-sucking heat. He further had a nagging worry about sandstorms and such, and knew a caravan would be better prepared for such an event.
