A Big Shiny Blue Marble Ch. 32

"The one who died was a friend of mine from far away," he began, "She came here to seek my protection, but her cries were heard too late. With just a little thought, I think that you might see that I am in no mood to be insulted or toyed with, though I can see that you try to be at least a little earnest. You are not the only one here with a little power.

Now, I will find out who she ran from. It might be you, but I have a feeling that you act as an agent here for another. You will either tell me what I wish to know, or my large friend here will lengthen your neck for you." He looked down, "though it would make me sad. But I must know what happened and why.

Now, we begin once again, necromancer, you were hunting Xunafae. Why?"

"You have made a few errors," she said, looking away at the rest of the room, "I am not what you think. You would lose nothing if you kissed me. And I know how to work the arts that you speak of. It does not mean that I am what you said, any more than my saying that you are nothing but a poor player of that game. I sense your ability, so I know that the statement would be wrong. I also sense that you are upset, as you have said, but not only for that reason. You feel alone now because you have a want that someone might love you, when you think that no one ever will again. I try to say it softly, but that is the real reason that I see."

Vadren looked up and his face showed a bit of anger, but that faded and turned into a look which told Ksyusha that she'd been right. She was not cold in her heart, and unless he gave her reason to, she would not mention it again. She liked his face much more when he was only looking annoyed with her.

He showed her far more than he meant to, and though she had little reason for it, she decided to leave the wound alone.

The door opened and Selena walked in with a plate of food and some ale for Vadren. "I can take over for you, Arrax," she smiled, "go and eat."

The large Xer nodded and walked out. Ksyusha saw only a lovely woman for a moment, but then she saw something else as Selena changed and sat down, "I can do this for you," she smiled, "a lot neater, too. If she says one thing that's a lie, I'll show her what I'll do to her, and I won't even have to touch her to do it."

She looked at the way that Ksyusha was being held immobile and naked in the air for a minute. Intrigued, she rose and walked around the tiefling for a moment, staring.

"You're not doing that 'Parted Flanks of the Maiden' thing, are you?"

"What?" Vadren asked, "No, that is a different thing, why?"

"Nothing," Selena chuckled, "I've only heard about it from Rachel. None of us know what it is and we're all a little curious. Go on and do what you need to do."

Ksyusha was stuck. She wanted to know a little more herself, but had no idea how to ask under the circumstances. She was surprised that he knew the girl's name. That she's been a friend of his took this far from what she'd been threatened into.

"Look," she said, "I am in a bad place in this. I had nothing against the girl. I have been hunting her, it's true, but not of my own will. I've even stretched this out a little, here and there. I was careful not to hound her at all. I did it for her and for me. Her brother has seized the throne by killing their father. He wants Xunafae found so that he can kill her. She was the next in line to rule, not him.

I was doing this because, ... he wears an amulet. There is a piece of me in it. If he destroys that, I will die. Now that I have found out that Xunafae is dead, I am not far from it myself. I will have to call him and tell him when he comes. After that, I will either be dead, or I will want to be."

Vadren looked at Selena.

"It's the truth," she said, "at least it's her knowledge of things."

"But I've met Garrend," Vadren said, "He's a power-hungry idiot. What you say makes sense, but how can he come here so quickly? And how could he make an unwilling servant of someone like you? He is no mage."

"No he's not," Ksyusha agreed, "but he employs one – other than me. That is how he found out about me. He tricked me by offering me some work to find an article for him for high gold. Really, it was a ruse to get me into a room at a certain time, not knowing that the mage would be there. When I felt it, it was too late. I lost a part of my soul and it is around Garrend's neck."

"What does the mage get from this, gold?" Vadren asked.

"I don't know," Ksyusha said, "I'd guess so, but he has what he wanted. With me doing what Garrend wants, hunting for his sister, the mage has my tower and all of my books."

The door opened quickly and Ksyusha saw another Drow in the room as Cha'Khah walked in, her dagger already flashing in her hand.

"This is the one?" she asked, "I will get the story of this and her life as well from her in only a minute." She turned to Vadren and finished her thought in their speech, "And then I will gut her, and I will do it hard for what was done."

Vadren shook his head, and Cha'Khah could see that there was more to this than she'd thought. She waited, looking at Ksyusha while he began to tell her that this was not that simple.

He had just covered it in the barest of terms when a black streak flew in through the open door shrieking as it flew around the room once to stop in front of Ksyusha, forcing Cha'Khah to step back in surprise. A moment later, the blur turned into a small horned demon, who placed herself in such a way as to guard Ksyusha with her intent clear in her stance. She bared her teeth and the small clawed hands that she raised glittered with barely restrained electrical energy.

"Please," Ksyusha said, "she only seeks to protect me. Do not harm her."

Cha'Khah took one step, but the demon raised her hand higher and the room was lit with what she held as it snapped and flickered.

"Step back please Drow, until I have had a chance to calm her," the warlock said.

They waited as Ksyusha spoke to her small, would-be rescuer, and in a moment, the demon changed to a small female with no wings, no horns, and only a thin tail. The long black hair turned short and the color became a fiery red as did her eyebrows. The pinched and glowering visage changed to one of worry and concern. She looked lighter now, a little lighter than Ksyusha, though her pretty face showed the same silver-looking fangs down her cheeks, though they were fading now. She turned to the warlock and in a moment, she stood next to her, holding on to her hip, looking lost and a little nervous. She spoke a few words back to Ksyusha who sighed and smiled in relief.

"That is good to hear," she said as she looked at Cha'Khah, "The child lives. Thank you for what you have done."

Cha'Khah was confused and the warlock smiled a little hopefully, "I had no wish to see harm come to either of them. I only hunted because I was forced to hunt and never in a threatening way. If Xunafae even knew that she was hunted at all, I am sure that is was from what she might have felt – I am sure that she never saw me once. My friend saw you as you stood outside with the babe."

The Drow shook her head, but Vadren said that he'd explain it all and Cha'Khah could accept that at least as she looked at the pair, "She is beautiful, "Cha'Khah began as she stared, "Is this, ... your child?"

"She is no child," the warlock said, "look closer. She is a year older than I am. Where I am from, we call these ones sparks – as near as I can find the word for it. They are often caught when they are children and sold as pets in the market to the lower ones of what I am, partly.

The higher classes buy them as playmates for their children and they are discarded when their children grow larger and lose interest. Those ones end up wandering, mostly dying after a time from starvation and their broken hearts. They are not as stupid as the ones who buy them. They are no less than we are, they are only smaller and a little weaker than us, and my kind does them only harm.

Nika is one that I saved when I was a maiden and she is not my pet; she is my friend. She is not one of the ones which are usually caught, being less able to be tamed, and so after she was caught and taken from her family, she remained unsold for a time, and eventually someone bought her. But the child of the family who bought her was a cruel little bastard who loved to torment her. When she saw her chance, she burned him and the house down. She lived in the wild lands after that, looking for others.

Please do not harm her; she is only afraid for me. Since I was trapped into working for Garrend, she has had to stay as near as she could while not being seen by him and his mage."

"Tell her that I wish to approach and that I mean no harm," Vadren said before he turned to Cha'Khah, "There is no gain to be had in anything that we thought to do in vengeance, cousin. These are only others who are used."

Cha'Khah nodded and her dagger was out of sight in the space of an eyeblink as she nodded, "I see it, Vadren. Learn what you can. I am sorry for frightening ... Nika. She is lovely, now that she has stopped and stands still for the moment, as lovely as her larger friend. I hope that this goes well," she said as she looked at the pair, "so tell my cousin all that he asks, all that you know which might be of help, yes?"

Ksyusha spoke to Nika in a language that the others didn't understand and the demon nodded slowly, never taking her eyes from Vadren – and the food there behind him on the table.

Vadren walked over slowly and stood very close to Ksyusha for a long moment. He said nothing; he only looked into her red eyes. Then he got to one knee and looked into Nika's eyes, but for a shorter time, since it was obvious to him that what he sought would have been less in evidence in her than in her companion. In both cases, however, he found it a little difficult to break the gaze.

Nika looked up at Ksysusha for a moment and spoke in one of the common languages of their world, "This – this is him."

Ksyusha nodded once, "I think so, but that was a long time ago that we saw him. Perhaps he is only like the one."

"I do not think so," Nika said softly as she looked, "I think it is him."

"Then be patient," Ksyusha said, ending the conversation which Vadren didn't understand.

He nodded to Ksyusha as he stood up, "When you are ready, make sure that you are relaxed. You will need to trust me a little, but I bathed you and washed your hair and I did nothing to you then and I will do nothing to you now. This is Selena. She was there. Ask her if you wish."

Selena nodded, "No one touched you, other than him when he washed you. You were a smelly mess when he brought you in."

Ksyusha nodded, and she found herself in Vadren's arms as he carried her to the table. "I will share my meal with you and Nika, and we will plan how this will go, if I have a chance to see Garrend. He must answer for this."

After setting her down on her feet and helping her to sit, he lifted Ksyusha's pack and he handed it to her, "You may wish to put some of your other clothes on. If we wait for the velvet garment to dry, it may take a week."

"Thank you, "the tiefling said, after a brief conversation with the spark. She set her pack down next to her, "We are comfortable for the moment. Neither of us feels anything bad about you and, ... where we are from, people do not feel shame over their bodies so, ... we are not shy. I think that while you may have the ability to do as you said to me, I know that you lack the will, not being angry with me anymore. I am sorry for what passed between us earlier."

"As am I," he nodded, "Why were you wearing the velvet robe at all?" Vadren asked, "There are other clothes in the pack."

Ksyusha sighed, "It was given to me to be worn by Garrend. He said that it would keep me warmer as I hunted."

She rolled her eyes, "Of course the heavy velvet would have kept me warm – if it were not slit to my hip on each side and if there was more to it beyond leaving me bare at the neck and shoulders and only covering my bosom in the smallest way.

He liked it on me, that was all, and he ordered me to wear it. If I find my way out from under his hand, I would be happy to burn it. It is a rich and expensive thing, but I hardly found any joy to wear what I was commanded to wear – hunting through mountains in winter with only a cloak."

He nodded looking at them. Vadren was tall for any sort of elf and he stood at about five feet ten inches tall. The tiefling was only a little shorter than he was by perhaps an inch or so. Her build was not as lithe as any Drow; she was heavy by that standard, though compared to a human, she was not heavy at all. Her legs were not sticks, being just a little thick and he wouldn't have known, but the feature came from her mother.

She didn't have the sort of figure that would normally be attractive to Vadren in the strictest sense – if he was asked the question in a barroom, for example, and if she was across the room and was a normal human woman. What she was however, was enchantingly lovely to him anyway, and all things considered, he thought that she was a stunning beauty and if she moved, he could see that she was very fit and he wondered about that for a moment.

Nika was something of a mystery to him. Her eyes were a dull yellow with a wide horizontal pupil in each one. She was short, it was true, but it was the damndest thing to him. Nika only stood about four feet tall or maybe a little more, yet she had all of the same sort of features that any other grown female could be expected to have – they were just smaller on her, that was all.

It came to him that if he asked her to stand near him as he sat in a chair and then asked Ksyusha to stand in the same pose a little distance away, they'd have looked remarkably alike. Her breasts were small, yet in the overall view of things, they were perfect in proportion to the rest of her. Everything about her was about perfect – in a rather small package.

She was a lovely as her larger friend, she was just a somewhat miniature version, but no less lovely for it.

"Why do you both wear those markings on your faces?" he asked, "I like them, but if there is any significance to them, I see none of it."

"When a young one comes into their own where we are from," Ksyusha said, "they must prove themselves. If they fail at it, there is no shame, but there is also no recognition either. One can be proven in many ways with different talents. Proven ones are marked. I was to be marked in the way that my father chose – like this. It is the father's right, to mark the time of the child's passage into adulthood. It is the father's last official act for his child, though of course, being a parent is a role which is unending.

Since I proved myself in battle, I wear the marks to show it. Nika fought well together with me, once she was free, and, having no family other than mine, since we accepted her, she was marked as well in the same way on my father's word even though it caused a stir because she is not one of our kind.

To my family, she is no less than me, and from my parent's view, they gained a daughter and she loves them for it. Her name is Nika, from what she remembers of her childhood. My mother always called her 'Veronika', because it is a name from where she was born.

There are some who say that her marks mean nothing – since she is not what I am, but they never say that in her presence – or mine." Ksyusha smiled.

"What are you doing with the chessboard?" Selena asked.

"Arrax was teaching me," Vadren replied, "but he is too much like a soldier in everything. I cannot learn when he crushes my plan every time."

"I can teach you," Ksyusha said, "the key is to learn simple strategies at first. You have the right idea about learning. What were you looking for in my eyes, to see if I was lying?"

Vadren shook his head, "No. Selena would have told me if you were. I was looking for death. What you can do – the part that I can see - means that the practitioner walks a fine line. I saw the nature of it around you, but I saw none in you.

Please, both of you, sit and eat with me. After all of this, the least that I can do to show that I am sorry for it is to share my meal, and Nika can only keep her eyes from the meal for so long. By her glances, I can see that she has not eaten for a time."

Cha'Khah looked at her cousin for a brief moment and she turned to Selena and motioned with her chin, "Come, my friend. Vadren is in no danger and he seeks to see what may be made from this, rather than what may be destroyed."

Selena nodded and they walked to the door.

"I am sorry for threatening you," Cha'Khah said as they walked to the door. Ksyusha smiled and thanked her.

Selena raised her hand and softly slapped Vadren's cheek with a little grin as she passed, "You're being an idiot here," she whispered a little musically to him as she went, "Don't you think that you ought to ask her name?" She smiled at the newcomers and walked out with a chuckle.

"I have been rude, even still," Vadren said, "I do not know your name. I am Vadren, as I am sure that you've heard."

"I am Ksyusha," the warlock grinned, "It is usually a different form of another name, where my mother came from, but Ksyusha is all that she ever called me and so I am Ksyusha."

She looked at Nika, "His name is Vadren," she said in their speech.

Nika nodded and smiled at the Drow, "Vadren," she said softly, and followed it with another sentence.

Ksyusha grinned a little, "Nika wishes to say that she is happy to know your name."

When he looked at her and nodded, he was a little surprised to see the intent way that she looked back.

There were only two chairs at the table, but Nika quickly got up to sit on Ksyusha's leg. Vadren asked to know what they were and where they'd come from in a gentle way.

"So you call yourself a warlock?" he asked after hearing her brief explanation, "I know little of it as an art, only what I feel."

"The word is a bad one," she smiled, "It stems from a few languages, 'Waerloghe' as a literal translation means oathbreaker or liar – one who has broken the truth, but I have never broken my word and I do not lie. I prefer to think of myself as a waerlock, meaning 'truth' in a dismissive form, from the Scottish, much like 'hillock' as an example."

As they ate together, it became a lot clearer to him. "I have heard of the gnomes here, and I've seen a few in my time, but they are nothing like Nika, and in comparison, they are quite ugly to my eyes. She seems childlike in a way."

"She is nothing like any being here," Ksyusha said, "What she seems and what she is, are two very different things," she smiled, "When I found her, I thought that I was doing the right thing to help her – and I was, of course. But I was on my spirit quest and once she was free and her captors dead, I thought to go on alone, but she would not leave me after that. I was eighteen and we became friends in an instant and then we did what I now know to be a foolish thing.

We cut our arms and held the cuts against each other to mix the blood, as a symbol of our friendship and sisterhood in the battle. But we are not the same kind."

She shook her head with a sad smile, "It nearly killed us both and we were sick from it for days. Both of us had visions from the edges of our deaths. But we survived it and we did form our bond from it, so in that respect it was right to do. I suppose.

We became the same from it. We often know what the other one is thinking – not because of any ability in that way, though we both have some of that. We know because it is what each one would be thinking. As I hung in the air there where you put me, I knew that Nika was seeking for me. I knew it when she had gained her entry into this place, though she was still far away. From her, I have learned even before she was here that this is a mountain of some kind and that we are inside of it. Twin children born of the same parents could not be closer than Nika and I as we live in each other. I know it when she breathes.