Drowning at Dusk Ch. 06

"You're in no state to fight," Dazyar said with a frown.

"Now that I am awake, I can use my own runes to accelerate my healing. Within a day or so, I'll be well enough to ride. I want to be there," she said firmly. "When we meet with Patrigan to give him this evidence, I want assurances that you and I will be there to strike the final blow."

After all we'd been through, I wanted a nice, quiet week in a cozy cabin or inn somewhere, with a few bottles of wine and a nice, comfortable bed. Sleep, relaxation, and wild sex with Xelari. I didn't want another damned hunt, or to be a soldier in a punitive expedition.

And yet what choice did I have? I wouldn't let Xelari go out there without me.

"All right," I said with a weary smile.

Terakh and Kivessen soon joined us, pounding on the door and demanding to be let in. Rather than berate me for leaving them behind, Terakh grinned wildly at the sight of Xelari, and then gave Dazyar a fierce clap on the back that nearly sent the bard sprawling.

"So what now?" Kivessen asked.

"We need to arrange a meeting with Patrigan, to give him this evidence," I said.

"I can arrange that," the bard said. "Now that you're here to make sure Xelari doesn't run away to try to finish Synrik on her own, I could use a walk and some fresh air."

"And I should check back in with the Tombflayers," said Kivessen. "See if I can convince Varanthir to offer our services to Heroth when he goes marching out to raze Amberkeep." He gave Xelari a smile, then walked off at Dazyar's side.

I smirked at the thought of Kivessen sharing tales of the wicked fun we'd gotten up to during our journey back to the city.

"Terakh," said Xelari. "Thank you for looking after Esharyn. But I need some time to be alone with her."

The orc wrinkled his nose.

"I don't think you should be-"

"My wounds were grave, Terakh, but not that grave," she said, giving him a little glare. "Privacy, please. Now."

He huffed, rolled his shoulders, and made his way back downstairs.

Once Terakh was gone, Xelari said nothing, and simply laid a hand upon my knee and gazed out at the vibrant, crowded city streets down below us.

After a few moments she leaned over to gently kiss my neck, then sniffed and gave a disapproving chortle.

"You reek of sweat and the sea, malrixi."

"Didn't really have much time for a bath on our last day aboard ship," I said, chuckling. "And I was in such a rush to get back to check on you that there wasn't time to clean up before returning here."

"Luckily for you, I found the most charming little bathhouse just down the street, where I cleaned up after I finally awoke."

She rose, and as she had done so many times before, tapped my elbow and bade me to follow. Helpless to resist, I grinned and did as I was told, rising and walking with her back down the stairs.

We whisked past the patrons and revelers and headed out onto the street, and arrived at a small marble bathhouse. Beautiful webs of vines and flowers covered its outer walls.

Inside, Xelari passed a few silver coins to the attendant, purchasing access to the private baths. Once inside the cozy little marble chamber, with its bubbling spring, baskets of soaps, and soft towels, I let out a sigh.

"Gods, I haven't been pampered like this in ages," I murmured.

I tore off my clothes and sank into the water without waiting for Xelari. Moaning at the warm embrace of the fresh, bubbling spring, I relaxed against the little bench beneath the water, and braced my arms against the edge.

To my surprise, she didn't disrobe to join me right away, and instead collected several soaps and sponges, then moved to kneel behind me. I'd expected her to strip down and join me, so I pouted a little, but my disappointment vanished once she soaked her fingers in the water, and proceeded to firmly massage my scalp while she washed my hair.

"Voids below," I murmured, my eyes fluttering as I leaned back into her touch.

She was as good a masseuse as she was a spellcaster or a lover. After working over my scalp, she reached down and firmly massaged the back of my neck, and then my firm shoulders.

"So tense. Did you not have a chance to relax during the journey? Did Terakh not see to your needs?"

"He did. So did Kivessen."

Her soft laugh echoed off the fine marble walls.

"So greedy."

"Of course. You weren't there to sate me, so I needed both of them."

Her fingers worked their way up the back of my neck.

"Was it enough?"

"Gods, no. My time with them was damned good fun but it wasn't...wasn't like it is with you."

Something about her touch and the way she erased those aches had lowered my guard, placing me in an almost trance-like state.

Leaning down a bit further, she ran her hand down between my breasts. I arched my back and adjusted my hips a bit. I silently thanked the gods when she forewent any teasing or cruelty, and reached right between my legs.

All it took was a faint brush of those fingers to conjure a desperate moan from my lips. She kissed and nuzzled my cheek, and gently nipped at my ear.

"Do you know the first thing I did when I awoke?"

Too adrift to speak, all I could do was mewl a little as her fingers sped up.

"I slipped my fingers between my legs, malrixi, and thought of you. Of the taste of you. Of the sounds of your breathing when your climax approaches."

I smiled, picturing the dusk elf splayed out on the bed, her fingers tenderly working between her own legs as she thought of me, and only me.

"I did the same, on the ship," I managed, closing my eyes and raising a hand to gently grip the back of her neck, while the other took hold of her wrist, pressing her hand a bit more firmly between my legs.

"I wonder if we were pleasuring ourselves at the same time, malrixi. United in bliss, though we were leagues away." She licked my ear.

The notion was far-fetched, especially considering how recently she'd awoken. But gods, it was a delightful thought.

I bit my lip. Satisfied with the firmer rubbing of her fingers over my clit, I released her wrist so I could toy with my left breast, my wet fingers flicking against the pert nipple.

Xelari's hand settled on my neck: a gentle but firm grip, a simple but delightful reminder of the hold she had over me. Her toy, her weapon, her plaything. Her malrixi.

"Yes," I hissed, adrift on the currents of pleasure, lost in the sea of sensation.

After another soft lick to my ear, I came for her, soft cries bouncing off the walls of the bathhouse. She purred with delight, rejoicing in my surrender.

"Beautiful. But insufficient."

She bit on my earlobe.

"Out of the tub. On your back."

I obeyed without question, splashing water about as I sprawled upon the floor beside her.

"Careful," I muttered. "Your injuries..."

"Fair point. I should not expend too much effort, should I?"

Her fingers ran up and down my shins, then to my inner thighs, and she slowly forced my legs apart.

"You do it, then," she ordered sternly. "Tend to yourself."

I didn't need to be told twice. Even as a few shivers went through my limbs, I slipped a hand between my legs, shoved two fingers deep inside myself. My neck tilted backwards at the spike of pleasure, and she growled under her breath.

"Eyes on me."

Swallowing, I tilted my head back to stare into her eyes, then brought my sopping fingers to the clit she'd so expertly teased. The warmth still lingered from my first orgasm, and the hunger in her gaze conspired with the fervent rubbing of my fingers to stoke those fires once again. My feet slid up and down the slick marble as I writhed, and she only reached out to occasionally brush her fingers over my thighs.

"My name," she hissed. "Nice and loud when you make yourself come."

In another circumstance, I might have defied her, or even moaned out the name of another lover just to goad her into punishing me. But the need was too great, the ache from her absence too painful. So I nodded, met her gaze, and teased my left nipple as my body careened towards the peak.

I fought the urge to throw my head back so that I could keep my gaze locked with hers, and bit down on my lip before my jaw dropped.

I cried out her name, though the last syllable broke down into a weak little whimper. My hips bounced up and down off the floor, my lungs heaving, my toes curling against the water-spattered marble.

My head thrashed from side to side despite my best efforts; my short, wet curls clung to my forehead. She pounced when I was at my weakest, yanking my hand away from my cunt and promptly replacing my fingers with her skilled lips.

The fading pleasure returned with a vengeance, the aftershock flaring into another climax. She purred against my folds, her eyes bright and delighted, and my shaking fingers raked against her scalp.

She drew forth her name from my lips yet again, though the second time it came out as a soft little sob rather than a worshipful cry. The moment that next climax struck she abruptly lifted her mouth away, smirked, and rose to finally disrobe. As I writhed and thrashed upon the floor, lost and adrift upon the waves of what she'd unleashed, she sank down into the tub, as if I wasn't even there.

Gods, I loved that dismissive cruelty. The playful disregard, the way she could inspire lust by wickedly ignoring me.

She disappeared beneath the water to wet her hair, then she reclined upon the underwater bench at the far side of the tub. Leaning back, she affixed me with an imperious gaze as I let out one last sob.

"Are you quite finished?"

Laughing, I rolled over and slipped back into the tub.

"I think so. Want me to return the favor?"

"Best not to risk it until I've fully recovered."

"I can be gentle."

"No. Not every moment of bliss must be repaid, Esharyn. Rest assured that I enjoyed that as much as you did."

I smiled and relaxed, washing away some of the mess she'd made between my legs. We silently basked in the heat of the bath for several minutes, and I closed my eyes and might have drifted off to sleep had Xelari's toes not brushed against mine.

I opened my eyes as she crossed the bath to join me, and she rested her head upon my shoulder.

"I know there is the risk of ruining this little moment, Esharyn, but there is something we must speak of."

Frowning, I tilted her cheek up so she could meet my gaze.

"What is it?"

"I promised you answers about my past. Given all you've endured for me and for the Deathless, it is time you received them."

"Spilling those sorts of truths might be more taxing than lovemaking, Xelari," I said, brushing my fingers over the back of her hand. "You don't have to. It can wait."

"The coming days will be fraught, difficult, and busy. We may have to provide an account of what we've learned directly to the Lord-Protector, to testify before the city's council, and that's not to mention the preparation for an assault on Amberkeep. And in the spare time that we do end up having, I'll want to get between those legs of yours again." Her hand tightened against my knee. "So this is the best time, malrixi."

She rose out of the tub and rested her feet in the water. Enjoying the warmth too much to join her, I lingered in the bath and looked up at her with wide, concerned eyes.

"Do you remember when I told you about Tournzaer?" she asked.

I nodded; she'd mentioned him as the first man she'd kissed, a fellow Moondancer who had kissed her while they'd taken part in a debauched, ritualistic orgy at the end of their training. She hadn't mentioned him since. Judging by the way the light faded from her eyes, I suspected he'd been far more than just the first person she'd kissed, but she'd done a damned good job of hiding his importance when she'd first mentioned him.

Or had I just gotten better at reading her?

"We served together as Moondancers for nearly three decades. We performed ritual dances together, presided over other rites or ceremonies, and helped to train new members of the order as well. We had our trysts and dalliances, of course." Her smile was distant and forlorn. "I would not have called it love, but we were quite close. We had a deep, enduring friendship, made all the more enjoyable by the wild debauchery we got up to."

Xelari sighed, and closed her eyes.

"Eventually we ran afoul of a prominent member of a cult to another god: we ruled against the priestess' cult in a dispute over sacred land, and she sought revenge. Two years after the dispute, she poisoned Tournzaer with one of the most potent poisons known to our people. It did not kill him, not right away. It instead ate away slowly at his body and mind, turning that kind, clever man into a corpse-like husk. The poison was magical in and of itself, you see, and resistant to magical healing, and in fact any attempts to heal him only made it worse."

I gritted my teeth, wanting to offer some sort of solace or comfort, but knew that no mere words could come close to easing that sort of pain. All I could do was listen, and hope that Xelari had been able to enact bloody vengeance upon that priestess.

"The poison eventually took his life despite all of our efforts, and I lost myself in grief. He was the first friend or lover I ever lost, and to lose him in such a manner, withering away over months and months..." She shuddered. "I sought a solution. A foul, forbidden, and dark solution."

My breath caught in my throat.

"Necromancy," she said, uttering the word with notable strain in her voice. "A week after his death, I enacted forbidden ritual that I hoped would bring him back. I thought that with his death the poison would have faded, so I could restore him to life and to his old self. I was wrong. So, so, terribly wrong."

Unsure if an affectionate touch would even be welcome, I nonetheless reached out and tenderly rested a hand against her lower thigh. After a slight flinch, she set her hand upon mine.

"He returned, but not as the man I knew and cherished. Tournzaer returned as a ghoul." She took in a slow, shuddering breath. "He nearly killed me, and rampaged through the Moondancer temple, killing four others and wounding a half dozen before the soldiers managed to put him down.

"Under the laws of our people, I deserved death for what I had done. But the magistrates showed mercy, given my grief and my years of faithful service. I was thus sentenced to an exile of four centuries, one for each life lost as a result of my actions."

Once more I struggled to find words, and once more I realized that nothing could possibly suffice. There were times when I lamented my own path: the ostracization from my family for leaving the White Talons, the fact that I really couldn't go home to Mrenhold again lest I cross paths with my kin or a holy assassin with a grudge. But to live as long as Xelari, and to be denied the beauty and joy of home for so long, all while carrying the weight of such a grim mistake...

I blinked away tears.

"And what happened to that priestess?" I asked softly, already deciding that she'd be my next target once Synrik was dealt with.

"Vengeance was denied to me, but only because two of Tournzaer's other friends got to the priestess first. They tracked her halfway across the world and ended her miserable life."

She sighed and pressed on, and I took some small solace in the fact that that wicked woman wasn't still out there, haunting Xelari's thoughts.

"I accepted my sentence, and went into exile. Given my beauty and talents, I took easily to the life of a courtesan in the city of Nenhaar, and was even the prized concubine of an orcish warlord for a time. Eventually I gathered up enough wealth to purchase runestones, and learned how to use them, and turned to mercenary work."

Those few sentences hinted at a thousand other stories, but I said nothing, and allowed her to continue to weave her tale.

"A dusk elf named Zoshenya found me. She was one of those wounded by the resurrected Tournzaer, and she embraced the path of the Deathless as a result. She had no designs on vengeance, but instead wanted my help tracking down a relic in the lands ruled by that orcish warlord I once served. Out of guilt and duty I helped her, and soon embraced the Deathless path myself."

"Thank you for telling me that," I said, after what felt like an eternity of silence. "And I'm sorry. For all of that. And for the pain you must have endured in the retelling of it."

"You are the first, Esharyn. The first person I have told of the reason for my exile. Zoshenya is the only other who knows the truth of my path."

The storm of our strange relationship shifted, growing stronger.

She finally opened her eyes, which brimmed with tears. Reaching down, she wiped away the few tears that I'd shed, and her fingers lingered on the scar she'd inflicted upon me.

"That was cruel of me," Xelari said. "I could have used the runestone soon after wounding you, to ensure it didn't scar. Too late now, I suppose. Removing it now is beyond my skill."

I almost laughed, but instead just shook my head.

"It's all right. Just another old scar. You have your share of them, too."

She leaned in to place a kiss over that old wound, and then shuddered. Her arms tightened around me, and her chest heaved with a heavy sob.

I held her as tightly as I could, though her sobs only lasted a few moments. Warm tears dripped onto my neck, and she sniffled, took a deep breath, then pulled away and wiped her eyes.

"You never left my thoughts while I was away, Xelari. Even in battle. Even when I fooled around with Kivessen and Terakh...you were always there."

She chuckled, and took my hand in hers and gave it a soft kiss.

"I am glad you found some sort of enjoyable distraction, at least. Rest assured that I am not jealous, Esharyn. And never could be, as long as your distractions don't keep you too long from my arms."

"A whole legion of handsome lovers couldn't keep me from you, Xelari."

Nor could a legion of undead.

She placed another kiss to the back of my hand.

"You never left my thoughts, either. Even as I dreamed, you were there. I dreamed of storms, Esharyn. I saw your face in the lightning, felt your touch within the rain, and heard your voice in the thunder."

My breath caught in my throat, and I closed my eyes to forestall more tears. The words cut deep, and not in an unpleasant way, and I could think of no past lover who had ever said anything remotely that heartwarming.

"Come, malrixi. Let us return to the inn, and get some much-needed rest."

In silence we rose, dried ourselves off, and walked hand-in-hand back to the Songhouse. Within minutes we returned to bed, and drifted off together.

And I dreamed of storms.