A Big Shiny Blue Marble Ch. 09

And I'm not paying him anything, Selena. How he might feel about you is not my concern. I am interested in aspects relating to your childhood. I'm paying you to come and try to recall a few things which might be a little hard to remember. It might take as long as three days, but likely not. Probably two will be all that's needed. I'll provide food, a very comfortable place to stay and you will not be harmed in any way."

She smiled a little, "Though I have heard from him that you seem to have a little trouble believing that when it is said to you."

Ny'Zeille sat back and sipped her ale for a moment. Setting the tankard down, she smiled again. "Now, I hope that I haven't forgotten anything, and I've allowed you a little time to calm yourself. As far as your fears go, you ought to consider that if I wanted to harm you, it would already have happened. The golds in your pocket are real, and they are yours to keep. When I release you in a moment, you may scream and howl in fear and act like fool. That is how you will be seen, because if you do that, you will find yourself here at this table alone with only one tankard and bowl of stew.

The gold is yours in any event, Selena. Try to remember that I'm offering ten more as pay for the job. You will not be harmed in any way, and you will be a little rich too."

She leaned forward, looking closely, "I think that I can see why Dahlgren liked you so much." She looked for another few seconds, and then sat back with a smile, "Alright, this has gone on long enough and what's left of your stew there is growing cold. Stay with me a little longer, and if you wish, I'll be happy to buy you another one. I like your company. Try not to fall over now."

Selena almost landed with her nose in her bowl, but she recovered and stared across the table.

"I really am sorry to have frightened you," Ny'Zeille said, "I couldn't see any other way to do it. You should eat your stew," she nodded.

It gave Selena something to do while she tried to think, so she ate, surprised that it hadn't really grown any cooler as her companion had spoken.

"You're serious," she said, "All of that, you're serious?"

"Incredibly so," the woman said, "I don't throw golds around lightly. They don't come much easier to me than they do to you. Will you do it?"

The rogue looked up from her bowl and took a piece of bread, "When?"

"Now would make me happy to hear it, but it's not possible without really upsetting you. Why not spend the night here and ride back with me tomorrow? I will lead you to my son's home. It's quite lovely there."

"Couldn't you just give me a map, and I'll find my own way there?"

Ny'Zeille chuckled, "Believe me, it is far better this way. If I gave you a map, you would come like the thief that you are, wouldn't you? You wouldn't be able to help yourself. You'd crawl around outside the wall, trying to see what was what. It's always about some sort of a plan with rogues.

I wouldn't mind allowing you the challenge of it so much myself, just to see what you'd do. But it is not my home, it's Dahlgren's, and I know that he wouldn't like it. But that is not the real danger. You, being as skilled as you are -- and I do respect you for it, by the way -- would find a way over the wall. I can't imagine how you'd manage it, but I think that you would find a way.

And that would be the end of the loveliest rogue that there most surely has ever been. There are things there, Selena, some living and most not. Their purpose is to wait and defend. They never sleep. They never rest. There is no way that they cannot sense you. There is no way that they would not tear you apart. It is all that they are there for, most of them.

I already like you. I have no wish to see you harmed. And if it were to happen, I would never have the chance to learn the answers which I seek about your childhood, and before you ask, this place is not the one to ask what I need to know. My son's home is peaceful beyond anything that you might have experienced. It is lovely, and there is a garden where you can sit and your thoughts just come to you as you watch the birds. A much better way to try to remember, I think.

Selena regarded Ny'Zeille from under her eyebrows as she ate, "I won't be hurt or tied up or anything?"

The woman laughed a little, "Not even if you wanted to be."

Selena remembered something and looked over, "Will the girl be there?"

"Nahl'een? Yes. She lives there. If you do not wish to see her, I can tell her to leave you alone. Otherwise, she will probably drift around on the edges of your sight, being curious about you but not daring to come close. I don't know why she was like that with you. She certainly isn't like that near other humans. I've never seen a little girl who can make friends with others so quickly."

"Will you be there, Ny'Zeille?" Selena asked. She was feeling a little comfortable with this woman at least, now that she understood a little more.

"I might be, I don't know," she said, "I must sometimes be somewhere else. It depends on where I am needed most. I can try to be, if you wish, but you should know something here.

Humans are ashamed of their bodies. You all seem to think that not wearing clothes has something to do with mating. It most certainly does not for demons. We are not ashamed of ourselves at all and only seeing another of us naked does very little -- unless one is a red demon. They are barbarous things. It is one of my son's favorite pastimes to hunt them wherever they appear on this world. If I am there when you come, I will likely not be wearing anything. I hope that it doesn't bother you, though if it does, I won't much care.

As far as your next question goes, what my son does as far as what he might wear is up to him, but I believe that he will be wearing clothing out of consideration for your feelings. Just remember the ten gold coins which await you at the end of it.

Now," she said, "Will you do it? Will you come?"

"Give me a minute," Selena said, "I need to think."

"Certainly," Ny'Zeille said as she got up, "I'll be right back. You should pull your hood up. Harry is about to come down the stairs and he's miserable because the wench that I paid for has told him just what kind of lover he is. He has thoughts now -- thoughts of, ... leaving this village, but not before he gets a little coin by talking to the deputy constable. Just think about deciding and please wait for me."

Selena pulled her hood up and tried to watch what she could as Ny'Zeille made her way over to the large man in the red shirt. They spoke for a minute and Selena could just see the payment as it was made. The man nodded and got up, walking away. Ny'Zeille came back, looking down with a tiny smile just visible on her face.

As she sat down again, Selena turned back and saw Harry coming down the steps with storm clouds over his brow. But his expression turned to shock and surprise as he was grabbed and muscled out through the side door. Selena knew that it led to an alley. She turned back to her companion.

"I hope that you didn't have anything that you wanted to say to him," the demon smiled, "I'll tell you when I feel that it has happened, but I think that Harry, ... Ah! Harry is now the late, unlamented Harry. And you're welcome."

Selena stared, "You can really do all that? Make things happen as you want them to?"

"No," her companion smiled, "I just felt things. With that, if you use your head, it's only a little bit of charm here and there and you often get what you want. I just didn't know that Harry was so sensitive about his little, um, ... shortcoming, that's all. I didn't expect him to be told in the manner that he was."

"Alright," the rogue said after a moment.

"You'll do it, then?" Ny'Zeille asked.

"Yes," Selena replied, "If you can do the things that I've seen here tonight, then you could also likely just make the idea come into my head that I want to go to Dahlgren's home, and I'd have gone. This way, I get ten golds, and the chance to look at him again for a little while, not that it will do me any good."

"What do you mean?" the demon asked, knowing full well what was meant anyway.

"Nothing," the thief replied, "As you said, everyone has their price. Ten golds is enough for me to suffer through two or three days. And if you don't mind too much and if it's possible, I'd prefer it if you were there. I understand about what you said. It's just that, ... I think I'd feel better if you were there to talk to a little. I won't feel so alone then, I think. I don't care what you wear. I know it's not likely true, but you feel a little like a friend -- at least someone that I know a little bit."

"I am a little surprised at your words, Selena," the woman smiled, "and I do think that you fear the way that you do over nothing. But I think that I can see it from your side. It won't be as bad as that. It probably won't be bad at all."

Selena nodded, but inside, she hoped that it was so. Before this, she wouldn't have thought that she'd have agreed to something like this for anything. But ten gold coins...

She guessed that she did have a price after all. She'd likely have agreed for three.

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The next day dawned bleak and overcast. The two women sat for a bit of breakfast before they left. Soon afterward, it began to snow, wet and heavy flakes, though nothing seemed to accumulate on the ground other than water.

By the time that they reached the second village, it had turned to cold rain. It made everything miserable, but Selena found that talking to Ny'Zeille could lighten the feeling of dread in her mood and she appreciated it. Every once in a while though, ...

"Gah!" the demon exclaimed just as they'd ridden through the place and were back on the road again, "The day is a miserable bitch. My knees are wet and it's running into my boots. And we've only just left!"

"Mine too," the rogue groaned, "and my hands are wet right through my gloves. They're freezing. I think I'd prefer just cold, dry snow."

"No you wouldn't," Ny'Zeille grinned over, "It would pile up and the going would be even slower. When I'm riding through shit like this by myself, sometimes I pull one glove off with my teeth and warm my hand against my tit. It's a rude shock at first, but it warms quickly. Then I switch. It does help some."

"Can't," Selena said, "Not much to warm anything against. I have to use my armpits."

"Ah well," the demon chuckled, "Your hard luck then."

"Yes," Selena sighed.

They rode on in silence for a minute before they both burst out laughing. It made Selena feel a little better to laugh.

"Was Dahlgren hurt over what I did?" she asked, "I saw him asleep and I really wasn't ready for what I saw."

His mother rode in thought for a moment, "Yes and no," she said, "He wasn't exactly heartbroken, since nothing much had passed between you, and he is a grown man, after all. It's not as though he was crushed. I think that it just made him a little sad. He is used to how he is feared. He accepts it, since he can't change it, any more than you can give yourself bigger tits to warm your hands with, I guess." She chuckled.

"He found himself in a bit of a tight spot on that mountain with you. He was really afraid that you would freeze to death, and so he stayed. He didn't want to sleep together with you for fear of what happened anyway. He thought that it might, but he had no other solution. I had to drag it out of him, but he told me that the way that you slept was your idea." Ny'Zeille began to fumble, looking for pockets.

Selena smiled over, "Going to warm your hands?"

"No," her companion grumbled, "I'm trying to find my pipe. I want a smoke, if I can manage it."

The rogue watched as Ny'Zeille was able to get all of the required bits and preparations of the ridiculous habit together in the cold rain somehow.

"How will you manage to light that?" she asked, "Have you got matches, or a flint or something?"

"No, ..." the woman said with a smirk, "Don't need them." She held up a finger and a flame grew out of the air above it, staying there in the rain just long enough to allow the lighting of the pipe. Selena was awestruck.

Ny'Zeille smirked, "Well I am a-"

"I know," the rogue grumbled, "You probably just grew your tits to the size that you wanted as well."

The demon stared and it brought them another round of laughter.

"Can't," she said around the stem of the pipe, puffing for a moment until she pulled it away from her mouth, "The way that we look is fixed, just as yours is. Many of us who live here have found that we can have another way to look to humans, such as the way that my son can appear as the handsome dark ranger to you, and the other way when he obviously felt safe enough with you to relax as he slept. We can't change the way that we look to humans either. I can look like this, or I can look like something else."

She smirked, "Don't even ask, Selena. I don't feel much like chasing you all over the land here trying to get you to calm down again."

"I was going to ask, you know," Selena smiled.

"Do you really think that you could stand that?" Ny'Zeille turned a little in the saddle to look at her.

"Oh, I don't know," the rogue replied, "I haven't really seen all of this face yet, though I can see that you're lovely. I guess that I can handle it."

She smirked, "I'll just keep thinking of my ten golds, I guess."

"That's the spirit," The demon chuckled as she threw her hood back.

Selena had just enough time to see that she'd been right about her companion before her face changed for only an instant. Then the human face was back and the hood came back up.

"Happy now?"

"Yes, actually," Selena grinned, "I think that I've just been allowed to see something which very few humans have ever seen, both of the faces of a demon. I didn't know that there were only two ways that you can look. You're very beautiful either way and I can see where Dahlgren got his fine looks from."

"I can feel that you mean that," the demon said, "thank you, ... Wait, are you saying that you like the way that he looks in his natural shape? From what he said, I would have thought that you were terrified."

"I was," Selena nodded, "I almost peed myself when I saw what I'd been sleeping against. I was scared to death. But I got hold of myself and seeing that he didn't look as though he'd wake up, I got my things together and left. I didn't know what he'd do if he woke up and seen me there."

"I think," Ny'Zeile said, "that he likely would have smiled and said 'Good morning' to you until he saw and felt your fear of him. If I know him, he'd have likely told you to sit still long enough for him to leave and feel embarrassed over it later.

As it was, he woke up and found you gone and worse, ..."

"Worse?"

The demon sighed as she puffed on the pipe and looked down for a moment, "You did steal his horse again."

"Ah," Selena nodded, and they fell silent for a time.

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By the time that they'd gotten close to the little place near the mountain road to both the temple and Dahlgren's house, the rain had changed to freezing rain and sleet.

Selena's mood had deteriorated. She threw back her head and yelled in frustration, "FUUUUCK! Stop this shit already! I hate it when little bits of snow and ice fly into one ear and out the other."

Ny'Zeille looked over, "Selena, put your hood up. Your hair is freezing."

"I can't," she said, "my hood is soaked through and almost frozen stiff because of how wet it is."

"Then hold still," the demon said. Selena felt her hood rise from her back and she saw the ice crystals on it spray off in all directions around her. Since the wind was at their backs, she saw swirls of fog or mist pass her for a few moments. "What? What are you -- "

"Hold still," was all that she heard. The next thing that she knew, her hood was over her head and it felt wonderfully warm.

"Thank you so much," she smiled over.

"It's nothing," her companion said, "I'd have done it sooner, but I didn't notice it before now. I can't have you get to where we're going only to die of exposure. Besides, I really like you. I feel that you are beginning to see me as a friend, and I am very surprised. I'd do a lot for my friends, Selena. You will not freeze to death with me along, though I'm beginning to think that weather like this seems to follow you."

"I'm beginning to want to agree with you," the rogue said, as the wind picked up and blew their cloaks out ahead of them. The sleet began to sting like gravel against any exposed skin.

They rode on and a few minutes later, Ny'Zeille surprised Selena. She didn't even turn her head, she just spoke.

"What did you say?" the rogue asked.

"I said," the demon turned to smile, "He did like you very much, you know."

"Really? He told you that?"

"Yes", her companion said quietly, "I didn't even have to drag it out of him as I did for most of it all. He said that."

It made Selena smile for a moment, "I liked him too," she said with a small sigh before she sat up a little straighter to ease the ache in her back, "But that's in the past. I've seen him twice since then, and I wouldn't say that his expression was kind. I'm just going to do what you need so that I can collect my pay and be gone, Ny'Zeille. I think that I'd like it a lot better if you were the one who asked me what you need to know, and if I could, I'd just go then, without seeing him at all if I could manage it."

"Well, I think that's for you to decide tomorrow," the demon said, "This is getting more stupid by the minute. Look, the town's just ahead there. Let's see if there are still any rooms, and I'll pay for our rooms and even a hot bath and dinner."

"I'd argue with you," Selena shouted into the sudden blast of wind, "but I'm not that stupid."

-----------------------

They managed to get two small rooms and the world didn't look quite as severe from the warm side of the inn's windows. They'd paid extra to have their horses seen to in a warm stable and they now sat in dry clothes looking at each other over some good hot food.

"I've just had a thought," Selena said seriously, "How would you manage this trip if you were alone? Be honest with me, Ny'Zeille, please."

The demon looked at her for a moment. "Well, if I were where we were and alone there? If I was faced with bad weather and needed to get to Dahlgren's home in a hurry?"

"Yes," the rogue nodded, "I have a feeling that it wouldn't be a problem at all for you, would it?"

Her friend shrugged, "Not really. I always travel light. I can fit all of my things into a small bag which I can carry on my back. I'd have sold my horse and saddle and, in a private place, I'd have just put my small pack on and flown. Weather like this isn't very thick. I can get above it in only a few minutes. I'd have just flown then. I only bought my horse and saddle here yesterday to ride out ahead of where I knew that you would go. I wanted to be waiting for you when you came. I learned about what you did from Dahlgren's thoughts. We can sense each other from a long way off."

She looked down, a little uncomfortably, "We can't wait for springtime for what is needed to be known from you, Selena. I wanted to meet you very much, both to see if you were all that I have heard about you and to maybe get a glimpse of a girl who had managed to touch the heart of my son for a little while. He thinks that there is no one for him on this world. I've told him differently a thousand times, but he is just like his father in his stubbornness.

He may be correct, I don't know, but I wanted to meet you anyway, and once you had agreed to come, well the weather just turned to this shit. I wasn't going to leave you to travel all of this way alone."