Curse and Fortune Ch. 01

"Well, ain't that right unfair, Rickhart." Gabriel piped up, twirling a huge ruby between his fingertips. "Surely we can offer him a coin or seven more, aye?"

"Can we?! With the tab we're about to rack up tonight?" Kaiser shrugged with a grandiose pose, the girls beside him practically sliding off their seats, stars in their eyes.

"Ah, but where are my manners. Of course we can." Rickhart stood up, one hand on his chest, the other out like a towns-crier. "So proclaim I, Rickhart Dale: No man, woman or inbtween shall leave this table no less than a thousand gold pieces richer than they arrived!"

"HEAR!!" The table resounded and Milliana strummed her lute quickly with a bam-bam-bam!!

The crew clanged their cups into the table three times with the tune and Pris grinned from ear to ear, hugging Nugget with one arm and her mug with the other. The fey cat meowed loudly as it reached up with both paws. If he actually reacted to the cheer or not, Pris didn't know, but he did seem like he was enjoying himself.

Pris, Kaiser and Norrin all excitedly took a fistful each of coin, with Norrin's being noticeably larger than the other two, and dropped them on Mr. Bordan's pile, easily doubling it and then some. Even the girls got a small pile each; a gift, Kaiser said. Pris had a feeling that was coming out of his share, if she knew Rickhart right.

They had done it. They had planned for four months. Stalked, debated, drawn up maps and charts, bribed and threatened. They'd laid low, coming up with pseudonyms and false backstories, making a small name for themselves in the underground of Rondel. Considering it was the city housing the great colleges of magic, it had not been an easy task. One small slip to the wrong person and a diviner could easily have spotted their business.

It had taken every ounce of magic from the three casters and every speck of charismatic persuasion and deception to pull the job off. They had nearly blown their cover twice and both times within inches of knives to their throats.

But they had earned the trust of the Pitchcloaks, they had sold themselves as bodyguards and hired muscle for two weeks, helping them in their missions while carefully staying in the back before, at the perfect moment, when all but the fewest members were within reach, they had struck. They took out the primary guards easily enough, set fire to their warehouses and, in the heat of the distraction, Pris and Millie had rigged the strongbox with the Belt of All Sizes before stealing off into the night, the rest of the crew barely escaping from a horde of angry thieves.

Pris had become separated from Millie and the rest of them shortly after leaving the city walls. She had feared for their safety for nearly three weeks hence, barely sleeping for fear of seeing cloaks and daggers sneaking up on her.

Yet, here they were. All six of them, practically drowning in loot and not a Pitchcloak to see. If there ever was a day to be happy, this was certainly it.

"I believe this calls for a toast." Gabriel proclaimed out, clutching the emblem hanging from his neck.

"Toast? We need a fucking loaf here!" Pris shouted. She pulled out a copper wire from her pouch, twisted the ends around her thumb and pinky and put it to her mouth, thinking as loudly as she could.

"Howler!! We need food and drinks! Lots of it!!"

"What the bloddy-!! Priscilla!! Don't use yer fuckin' magic on me, ya-!"

The message cut off before he could finish. Such low tier spells always had their limitations, sadly~

Sure enough, barely a few minutes had passed, during which they had managed to divide a tenth of the loot among themselves, clamped the chest shut with the magic belt and stuffed it back into Pris's bag before the door flew open and the halfling owner himself stepped in, the clamor of the common room following him like an intrusive house guest.

"Okay, ya bratty, magic-putterin' li'l nightmare, wha'cha be needin' me draggin' barrels half across the-" Howler stopped his decibel-fueled tirade as he neared the table, gawking at the pile of coins in the center. He glanced from face to face for a moment, lifting an eyebrow as Pris shot him her smuggest smirk.

"... Okay, lassie. Ya win this round..." He said, scowling as the crew cheered.

Norrin finished his drink in a go and held up his cup.

"I'll have Bug bring a barrel..." He said and the whole room erupted into laughter as he left.

"Recon he's angry?" One of Kaiser's girls asked, her voice carried an air of a city girl. Maybe she had moved or was traveling herself? Now that Pris actually took the time to look at her, she was a pretty thing. Blonde ringlets fell past the shoulders of her brown and white halter-dress, the modification the girl had obviously done did little to conceal her curves. Her blue eyes betrayed a hint of anxiousness as her eyes went form the door to the rogue.

Her friend was similarly dressed all things considered; A simple white dress with a reddish vest and sash, slightly modified for a shorter skirt and a deeper cleavage. She had deep-brown hair tied into twin braids that hung loosely against her shoulders. Pris quickly took her eyes off of them, focusing instead on the pile of money she had been given and trying not to meet Millie's eyes.

"It's fine." Kaiser reassured them, holding his hands around the waist of each of them. "He might not look like it, but the man loves us."

"It's just a character he loves to portray." Gabriel shot in. "He used to be a showman back in his prime. Traveled far with a performer troupe before he decided to take over his father's business."

"Plus, any extra gold we put on the table is extra gold for him." Rickhart said. "Which reminds me: Tonight, we are tipping generously, if not just to make him forget about last time we stopped by."

A round of knowing smiles and snickers passed around.

"What happened last time?" The brown haired girl asked. Pris hadn't bothered to ask their names and neither did she intend to. Before anyone could reply however, the door flew open once more and a hulking figure entered.

His greenish skin tone and large tusks revealed him to be Bug, the orc bouncer. Bug had been a joke name from Howler for his size. It was always amusing, he had said, to see the mockery in the eyes of unruly patrons when he warned them he'd send Bug on them. The sheer fright that welled over them when the orc in question stepped up was something Howler made a habit of remembering for good stories.

Bug took a straight right turn and deposited the huge barrel he was carrying upon a support built into the floor adjacent to the door, careful to position the barrel with the tap down.

"Is done." He said in his deep, grumbling voice and bowed with surprising grace.

"Thank you!" Pris said and skipped over with her cup. Reaching the orc, who was about twice her height, she motioned for him to come closer and then stuffed ten gold pieces in his hand and placed a kiss on his cheek, feeling the rough texture of his leathery skin on her lips. "And your accent is flawless as always."

Bug didn't speak the common tongue very well, but Pris found his accent particularly spot on, which always seemed to please Bug. Sure enough, a smile curled the tips of his tusks. Even his cheeks seemed to swell with a purple-ish color.

"Am thank." He rumbled.

"Thankful." Pris corrected confidently, both hands on her hips.

"Am thankful!" Bug repeated, seemingly pleased and retreated, closing the door carefully behind himself.

"Found yourself a companion for the eve?" Millie teased as Pris filled her tankard up.

Pris shrugged, putting on her best cocky look as she shot her hips at her.

"Yeah. Who knows, might be a solid ten in the sack." She downed half the cup before filling it up again, ignoring Kaisers request for a refill. "Besides, He's bound to be hung as hell."

"You'll need more than divine intervention to recover from that one." Gabriel quipped, clacked cups with Rickhart and refilled his pipe a second time while Norrin laughed as only he could; loud, booming and straight from the heart. The rest of the table joined him and Pris found she could not resist.

A happiness welled over her yet again as she sat down with her crew. Her friends. Her family. The only one she had left, truly. It had been a short 4 years together, but she could truly say it now: she was home.

Pris pulled over a chair next to Millie, who was in the middle of looking over a large gemstone. It was sapphire blue, but had a certain depth to it that a regular gem wouldn't compare to.

"What do you think?" Milliana asked, holding it up for Pris to look at. "Magical? Or just really pretty?"

"Hm? Oh, you were talking about the gem." Pris winked at her. Millie just smiled as Pris accepted the stone. Putting it up to her eye, she focused her vision as best she could.

There was a certain kind of skill being able to tell magical items from non-magical ones, especially without casting any spells. For instance, magical energy was invisible to the naked eye. However, certain magical energies could be detected judging by an item's appearance and reaction to other magical effects. Gems, for instance, glowed when charged with magic and this particular blue thing had a certain hint of gleam to it.

"Give me a second..." Pris fumbled through her infinitely deep bag. Sure enough, the item she wanted was miraculously, as always, on top of the pile. Best purchase I ever made. I've got to go back to that shop at some point.

She fished up a leather-bound book etched with golden markings. The book had been ridiculously expensive, all things considered, but it had saved her a lot of time and space in terms of buying loose sheets of paper.

Opening and flipping through it, she was greeted by the familiar sight of dozens on dozens of pages filled with all kinds of formulas, circles, runes and glyphs. Her spellbook had been meticulously put together and neatly arranged. She had spent more money and time to make it as neat as possible than she dared consider.

About halfway in through the filled out pages she found it: A spell she had been using so frequently she couldn't imagine how much more troublesome their journey would have been without it.

She placed the book open on the table and pulled out an owl feather from a small pouch at her hip, holding it between the fingers of one hand above the book, the other holding the gem aloft about a foot above the book and she begun to focus, closing her eyes as she allowed the magical energies in the air and atmosphere to coalesce.

The noise of the room died to her, waning like a dimming firelight.

Her eyes closed, she neither saw nor felt anything save the gem in her hand and the growing tension in the other as magical energy begun to surge from the book, through the feather in her hand and up her arm. It crossed her heart, sending a bolt of sensations through her spine and into her brain. The energy traveled to her other hand where it focused in on her right ring finger where she kept a ring set with a small, milky white pearl. She felt for a moment as if she could sense through the pearl on the ring.

And in that instant, she felt her mind clear free of thought and the only thing that existed was herself and the gem. A gently pulsing energy met with her and, like a bolt of lightning, information filled her head. It swelled like a growing storm, chaotic and wild, until another flash of energy from another source collided with it: her spellbook. The page she had up bore an intricate formula of runes and magical inscriptions that could, over a short period, stabilize the storm of information without her having to rely on the motes of magical energy within her that she would otherwise have to spend on the spell.

The storm quelled, settling like a rushing river to a still lake, the resulting energy clear for her to read. The pure understanding of it melded into her head like it was printed.

She opened her eyes and had to squint for a moment against the light. The sound returned to her ears and she was back in the room, though in truth, she had never left.

"Yeah. Pretty magical." She said, handing the gem back. Millie looked pleased as she gave it another look-over.

"What does it do?" She asked, looking perplexed as she studied it closer, as if to scrutinize every molecule of it.

"It enhances the innate properties of whatever you affix it to." Pris said, drinking from her tankard. "Plus, it imbues it with an ice effect. It can probably deal some solid frostbite."

"Neat, thank you." Millie said and planted a kiss on Pris's cheek. "I'll make it up to you, promise."

Pris felt warm inside and she clamped her legs shut as she felt a reaction. She couldn't help but smile as she looked up at Millie who was a solid head taller than her, even when seated.

"I know you will." Pris replied and stroked the elf on her thigh, under the table away from prying eyes. Millie didn't respond, but that was a good thing. Milliana only reacted to such advances if it was negatively received. Otherwise she let Pris do as she wished.

"Wow, you can do magic?!" Pris jumped and nearly spilled her ale as she met eyes with one of Kaiser's admirers. It was the blonde girl who had taken Kaiser's lap for her seat and the rogue was non-verbally very clear how he felt about it.

"Mmmmmaybeh!" Pris twirled her hands around and a flash of multicolored lights exploded like fireworks above her head. Completely harmless of course, but the squirming reaction from the girl made it all the worth.

"Can you, like, take out a troll?!" The girl was clearly amazed and her friend leaned over the table to have a look as well.

"She can." Kaiser said, putting on an air of being impressed. "I've seen it. We all have."

"Blew its head clean off." Gabriel chimed in as Rickhart nearly choked on his drink. "Almost looked staged."

"Priscilla is like a magician version of a true barbarian." Norrin said with pride.

"Guys. Guys. Guys!!" Pris was actually blushing at this point, hoping dearly the others were drunk enough not to notice. "My ego can only get so big, okay. I might die from inflation and then Poof! No more Priscilla. No more magic."

"Don't worry, we'll mourn you." Millie said. "And then we realize; Whoa, we got two more casters and got rid of a mouth to feed." Laughs were shared and Gabriel stretched his hand out for Millie to slap.

"I am offended!" Pris feigned indignation with a grandiose hand to the heart. "And here I thought you were my friends."

"Contemporary partnership." Kaiser raised his cup.

"A familiar denotation to you, eh, Kai?" Rickhart nodded subtly towards the two girls who seemed wildly oblivious. Kaiser was chuckling heartily into his cup, giving the blonde girl a hefty slap on her ass. She gave off a cute "Yipp!!", but seemed to find it endearing as she threw her arms around his neck.

Between drinks and jokes, Pris was having the time of her life. Bug returned soon enough with a large wooden plate laden with all kinds of finger food, from twelve different kinds of cheese to sausages and fancy jams, seasoned crackers and steamed wild potatoes and mushrooms drenched in sauce. Large strips of fried bacon and bits of steaming chicken lay in big bowls and sent out wafts of delicious smells that made Pris's stomach growl like a dragon.

With food in her belly and her liver working overtime, she fell quickly into a trance of conversations, jokes and flirting with Milliana, and in a few quick flashes of drunken mischief, she was seated on the elf's lap and listening to Rickhart recounting their own escape from Rondel, but she barely recorded a word to memory.

Blinking up into Millie's brilliant silver eyes that so beautifully complemented her hair color, Pris realized she'd had way too much and sat up, rubbing her temple out of a drunken haze.

"Want to call it a night?" Millie folded her arms around her, hugging her with a warm firmness that Pris could easily sleep to. "Or at least to the others." She whispered that last part before Pris gasped.

"Hey, don't bite my ear like tha-" She drew her breath sharply again. One of Millie's hands were traveling down down and down. Down where it mattered. Pris inhaled deeply as Millie's hand cupped her lightly between her legs.

"Don't what, Scilla?" She teased warmly and kissed Pris in the neck. A light peck.

"Okay, okay. Let's go." Pris strained to keep her voice down and peeked around; Norrin had left the room and so had the dwarf. Rick and Gabriel were in a heated discussion about something something goblin wolves something something.

She glanced over at Kaiser who was having his hands full. And his mouth. His two companions weren't gonna let him sleep tonight, she was sure. Pris couldn't help giggling before leaning back into Millie's embrace. Looking up at the elven eyes as deep as stars, Pris pulled her into a kiss.

She let it hang, refusing to let it go. Three weeks away from her had gnawed on every fiber of her. She had missed her so much. She was craving this moment. And, perhaps more than everything, she was so turned on she felt her heart beating like a war-drum.

"Let's go." Pris said, breaking free of Millie's grasp and hopping down, she dropped a "Good night" to the others on the way out as she picked up her bags and cloak. Rickhart and Gabriel only waved while Kaiser didn't even look up.

The denizens of the common room had diminished a lot since Pris had arrived. Just a few stragglers remained and Howler's staff; a group of three barmaids and a pair of bartenders, all dressed very fancy, were swiftly clearing tables and wiping over surfaces. The three halflings from earlier had been joined by a human woman with facial scars and were sipping on black liquor from tiny shot glasses.

Norrin was nowhere to be seen, so Pris assumed he had either gone to look for a brothel or had found a girl to take upstairs.

"Poor lass, gonna walk like a squeaky wagon wheel by the morning." Millie said, walking ahead of Pris up the stairs.

"She's not the only one." Pris countered and gave Milliana a hefty slap on her butt. The elf's sharp yelp made her smile. By the lords above and below, there would be no sleep for either of them. That thought alone was enough to keep her going.

Nugget pushed past her and followed Millie up the stairs, the elf taking two steps astride.

"Hurry up, Scilla. If you're late I'm gonna shut the door on you."

"You're too tall!" Pris sighed. She'd always been a bit conscious about her height. But that was just how she was. She didn't let it bother her much. Besides, it helped being small when in dungeons and in combat. "Wha'cha gonna do? Finish yourself?"

"I might." Millie teased as she reached the top, looking back with a smile Pris could only identify as wicked. She tossed her long, silver hair as she walked off to the left and before Pris reached the top, she heard the soft click of a lock and doorknob.

Hurrying after, she found the only open door and was met with a warmly lit bedroom. A large dresser in the corner and a crackling hearth on the right-hand wall. Milliana was already unlacing her boots and tossed them aside as she sat on the large bed standing under a window in the opposite end of the room.

"Finallyyyyyy!!" Pris managed to spit out as she dumped her bags on the floor. Only now did she realize how much her legs were actually aching. Her coat and utility belt were next and she discarded her boots as soon as it allowed her. "Oooooow!"

She staggered over to the bed and dropped on it face first, feeling the exhaustion well over her now that she allowed herself to relax.

"Want me to massage you?" Millie lay on her side, head at level with Pris's. Pris only nodded into the sheets. She didn't see anything, but felt Millie climb onto her back, her hands gingerly stroking her sore muscles.