Heart Over Sword
Chapter 202: Storytelling (3)

Chapter 202: Storytelling (3)

Opening the door to their room, Ronan stopped his announcement to the other two about what new information he had acquired. The space was empty of Ger and Axel. They had yet to return from their inquiries; at first, he did not think more of it, but the longer he waited, the more he began to pace. Kuramji was not a place to be parted from his comrades or for them to be out for too long; though they could take care of themselves, he began to worry.

"Aww, it warms my heart that you care so much for us," Axel interrupted Ronan’s storytelling. "Don’t worry, our lips are sealed."

"Here I thought he only cared for the warmth of a woman’s flesh," Ger muttered, then sighed after seeing the flash of hurt behind Ronan’s blue-green eyes. His friend may be known for his debauchery, and they jested about it a lot, but he was a good man and always a loyal and good friend. He did put his friends before any woman, though from how he looked at Evanna, he wondered if that may change.

Although Ger didn’t like it, he thought it might be better that way. Evanna needed to come first before any of them. To lighten Ronan’s souring mood, Ger placed his arm over Ronan’s shoulder, pulling him under his armpit and rubbing his knuckles over his curly locks hard. "Don’t worry. We know there’s more in this head of yours than that."

Ronan struggled to get out of his grip and instead jabbed him hard in the ribs causing Ger to spit out the pipe in his mouth. Evanna moved away from the two men, now seemingly brawling playfully. Still she enjoyed watching them. She enjoyed all of their company, whether they fought amongst themselves, mocked one another or told her stories. The princess only now realised how much she’d missed truly missed them.

"*If they keep making so much noise, death will find us tonight,*" Garrett commented, standing and turning his back on the group, seemingly agitated by them all.

"*Come now, Garrett.. There was a time when you were so reckless..*" Arawn replied with an arched brow at the other elf, who faltered in arguing back.

"*It cannot be so reckless when we have the company of such experienced warriors,*" Evanna added with a charming smile directed to Garrett as she rested her chin on her fist. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ronan and Ger stopping and watching her momentarily before Ger smacked Ronan, and they returned to their scrimmaging. She could also see Arawn’s icy blue eyes light up in amusement as he turned his attention to his man.

"*If charm and beauty worked on me, princess, I would be a gone man a long time ago.*" Still, as he grumbled about her, he still puffed his chest out with pride from her compliment.

Evanna bit the inside of her cheek, refraining from smiling as she watched him walk away, his eyes constantly sweeping their surroundings. Her attention returned to Ger and Ronan after they fell into her. "Damned idiots, the pair of you," Axel swatted them away with the back of his axe. With a sigh, he gestured for Evanna to come closer to him.

"Let those fools be.. I’ll continue the story, Raven." Evanna scooted closer to him and watched as he pulled out a small dagger and began carving patterns into his axe’s wooden base. "While Roach was acting like a worried mother hen at the Snake Pitt Inn.. We had also caught sight of Cilv, though we didn’t know at the time he’d just let her go.."

Ger and Axel looked at each other, then followed the red-haired shapeshifter across the street. They tried to keep their steps light and quick enough to catch up to her without raising any suspicion. "We’ll corner her and find out what we need to know," Ger said in a hushed voice while they walked down the street and turned into an alley.

Axel found it quite admirable that Ger was, for once, acting more logically than on emotion. The temper he’d seen flare in him was barely bubbling under the surface, but maybe the tiniest speck of hope was what he needed. Cilv may have fooled them, and fools they had been, but now fate seemed to have brought them together again in Kuramji. The chances of seeing the vixen again were slim, yet here they were.

The pair halted as the alley’s darkness began to curl around them, keeping their sight veiled. Beyond the dark, though, all they saw at the other end of the passage was a pair of cat eyes reflecting back at them.

"Are you really so idiotic as to follow me here, boys?" Cilv’s silky voice called out to them. "I do like the occasional fight, but alas, I wish to bathe in warm water and sleep in a comfy bed for the night. It has been quite an arduous journey, you see.. And right now, I prefer my comforts."

"We can’t all get what we wish for," Ger all but growled back. "Why are you here?"

They slowly stepped forward, though Axel had already removed his smaller axes from his belt, feeling the threat Cilv posed. He could tell the more they closed the distance between them, the more in her element she appeared. His sight had grown accustomed to the darkness now, and he could see her outline and then the growing confidence of her features, the curled set of her lips as they approached her.

Axel raised his axe in front of Ger, telling him silently not to go any further. Cilv was dangerous, and though there were two of them, he’d seen how the shapeshifter fought. Though they could fight, she was quick, skilled and not opposed to using underhanded methods to win.

Cilv made a dramatic sigh. "I just told you... A warm bath and bed. Men.. they do not listen. Speaking of keeping my bed warm.. Where is Ronan? I do miss his comforting hands."

"In the bed of another lass," Axel grunted, hoping to hurt her a little. It went against his nature to be cruel and lash out at anyone, especially a woman. But the longer he watched Cilv, the more his own anger started to creep under his skin. She was the reason Evanna would suffer if her mother succumbed to this illness.

Though he didn’t expect miracles from the gem, he didn’t want to see the little princess’ only hope dim like the rest of the vile world. Cilv had taken it away from her like the thief she was.

The shapeshifter shrugged. "His loss then. I thought we made quite the pair in bed sports. Another time then," she smirked with a twinkle in her eyes as though this was all a game. Maybe it was to someone like her?

Ger stepped forwards again, unsheathing his sword. The action made Cilv adjust her stance, but her gaze remained playful. If anything, that was worse than if she was serious. "Blood does not need be drawn tonight." Axel stepped forward again, encasing Ger in more shadows and keeping him from trying anything. His emotions were starting to override his logic.

Cilv’s lips pulled back into a smile. "You know, I always liked you, Axe. You’ve always been quite the gentleman.." Her steps clicked against the cobbled street, stopping a small distance from them. "If you do not wish to fight, then why corner me?"

"Don’t act like you didn’t draw us in here to trap us!" Ger spat.

"Then all the more fool, you," Cilv smirked, watching Ger gleefully. If she had a tail, Axel expected it to swish playfully.

"Do you still have the gemstone?" Axel asked quietly as he stared at Cilv intently.

Cilv watched him for a few heartbeats, making Ger grow anxious and his stance gingerly widening, readying himself for battle. "It is gone. Sold," she said simply.

This time Axel didn’t hold Ger back. He lunged at her and gripped her shirt, pointing his sword at her throat. "Who to?" He roared into her face, fury rippling from his chest.

Cilv didn’t seem concerned by the blade at her throat and looked at Ger, her eyes bored. "Be lucky I have not ripped the spine from your body, Ger. I do not like being threatened, even as weak as this attempt is." Oh, she knew how to rattle the poor bastard.

He cut the blade into her skin, drawing a trickle of blood. That was enough for Cilv’s eyes to glow, and in a matter of seconds, she’d manoeuvred out of his hold, his sword skidding on the ground, and he followed. The shapeshifter held him against the dirty floor, her wild, untamed hair falling over her features as she held her claws against his throat, keeping his face raised from the puddle beneath him. "I never did like you," she whispered, then hissed at Axel, who’d taken a step forwards.

"Cilv.. Cilandra.." Her head snapped up at her real name, her lips snarling at it. Axel slowly moved his hands, showing Cilv his axes returning to his belt. "She needs that gem.. And if you’d followed us to the end of the mission, you know as much as I that she would have given you what you asked."

He didn’t need to mention Evanna’s name for Cilv to know who he meant. But even as she held Ger hostage on the ground, the blatant dislike on her features, he saw an ounce, as tiny as it was, of guilt flicker across her face. It went swiftly, though, and her mask of contempt returned.

"Tell us where it is. For once, Cilandra.. be truthful. You have my word. We will leave you unharmed."

Cilv snorted at that. "Your deaths would also let me leave unharmed. Do you not think? I may like you, Axe, but I prioritise myself over you. Such is the world we live in, and the one Raven will undoubtedly learn about if she survives the Flori and learns of the gem’s disappearance."

"I have met a many bad men and creatures, but none as disgusting as you!" Ger growled, then spat out the muddy puddle from which she’d pushed him into in annoyance.

"Do be quiet. I never said I was good," Cilv returned with a cruel smile. One that slowly diminished as she met Axel’s gaze. She sighed and smacked Ger’s head into the ground before leaping off his body and throwing him against the wall.

Axel went to grab his axe, but Cilv was before him quicker than a gust of wind, her hand on top of his. "No blood will be drawn tonight," she whispered, repeating Axel’s earlier comment.

The giant pointedly looked in Ger’s direction, whose head was bloodied. The shapeshifter scoffed. "That does not count.." She tilted her head to the side then. "I sold the gem to the Lyvarians. By now, it will already be in the mountains."

Axel inhaled a sharp breath. "Do you speak the truth, or is this another goose chase?"

Cilv smiled, one not full of malice. "I always did like you."

Then his vision went black.