Golden Rook Ch. 55-60

"Vezar!" The sight of the dragon waiting for her gave her a burst of elation. Beaming, she darted over to him and embraced him, rising on her toes for a kiss. The feeling of the tips of his claws pricking her through her clothes as he returned it hungrily sent a thrill through her. "I have something for you."

"My sweet Syreilla, you need to bathe." Vezar pressed his face against her neck inhaling deeply as if he'd missed her scent and wanted to find it beneath the smell of the mine.

It wasn't hard to remember how much it had upset him the last time she'd gone into the mine without him or that she'd come out with a husband. Laughing, she kissed his neck and reassured him. "Kaduil Hardjaw misses his wife, I'm not her. I missed my dragon."

With a groan, he pulled her through the doorway, murmuring ardently, "I need my treasure beneath me. I need to know that no dwarf has had his hands on your perfect skin, my golden-"

"I will ask Odos if the time can be taken," Hevtos sounded amused and when she looked over at him he was smiling faintly.

"I doubt it, Uncle. He was up to something while I was in the mine. The Magpie is furious with me and my cousin, Cyran, will barely look at me."

"He wore your face and he was not kind to Vezar while he did."

"Ah." It explained the tears in her clothes, he'd worn those too, and he didn't have her permission for any of it. "It seems he wasn't kind to anyone. I'll speak to the old man."

Removing the carved box from her pouch, she offered it to Hevtos. "I was told that what I asked for was in there, and I can feel something is but..."

"But you have doubts?"

"I do. I walked the treasure rooms with Sirruil and a dwarf named Orefinder, helping them find more ways to make it secure. I liked him, but I'd trust a knife made out of elf bread before I accepted what he said without question."

Hevtos began to laugh holding the box in both hands. "You are right, my Golden Rook. Within are three stones holding power but not the ones you were told you were taking. They are a promise, if the true stones are needed they will be given. Until then, these are a small gift of power to aid me."

"Who is Sirruil?" Vezar ran his hand down her back looking at her curiously.

She gave him a sad smile.

"Hammersworn's youngest. Oduil Flameborn, her eldest, looks like a slimmer version of his father with just a little bit of point to his ears. He's got a disposition like Batran's, he's clever, serious, and does fine work. Kyrilla, her daughter, is as golden as she was, a dwarvish beauty with her father's sweet disposition." Pausing, she wrapped her arms around him for comfort and found herself wishing they might have a child, "But Sirruil, he's like her, he's mischievous and hot-tempered." With a laugh, she added, "He looks exactly like Kaduil. She used to tell her husband dwarvish good looks were the only thing he inherited from his father."

"This Oduil isn't a Hammersworn?" Vezar gazed down at her curiously.

"He's of Clan Hammersworn. At a certain age, the boys go through a ritual and become men. They receive a name other than what their mothers gave them, usually only the head of the clan goes by the clan name. Sirruil will go through his soon." She tried not to show the depth of her disappointment, "I'm not permitted to be there for it."

"They belong to the dwarf gods, my Golden Rook." Hevtos smiled faintly. "They guard their rituals and knowledge more closely."

"I know. I understand. It still makes me sad, Uncle."

A door opened out of the air and Odos stepped through with a mischievous smile, "I need my rook. I've arranged a meeting with an old friend. He'll help us with the elves."

Disappointment and anger bubbled up at the sight of his smile. "I'm angry with you, old man. Magpie and Cyran are upset with me-"

Odos waved his hand dismissively, his smile widening. "I'll speak to them."

"I'll speak to them. You apologize to Vezar." Pulling away from the dragon, she stole a kiss before she slipped through the door that opened next to the old man.

Syr found herself on a mossy parapet with a small tree trying to grow out of the crack where it met a stone face. "You beardless, blunt-bladed..." Going to glance over the edge sourly, she considered going over the side.

He stepped onto the parapet moments later.

"This isn't where I intended that door to take me, old man." She scowled at him but it didn't seem to have any effect.

"You should try looking before you walk through." He looked pleased with himself as he moved to lean against a stone crenelation. "I need to speak with you, and a few others do as well. Trust that I'll smooth things over, little rook."

"Why are Magpie and-"

"Your brother has idolized you for as long as he can remember, it's good for him to stop, and your cousin was giving you the glad eye. I-"

"Cyran was doing no such thing. Your brother never even let him know his sisters and had made him afraid to even be in the same room alone with a woman. He's learning how to act and I can give him the space to learn while keeping firm boundaries. I'm going to guess you did something to crush him and make him think he disgusts me?" She glared at him, "If you ever use my face again, old man, I'll burn you to the fucking ground."

"I'll smooth things over with them. I kept them safe and got three of the stones for Uncle while you were visiting in the mine. I had to leave the two of them with the goddess of love and beauty. Your brother is angry because I gave him a false sigil and told him it was yours, and he had hoped to be helpful. Cyran... She took a personal interest in him. No real harm was done. You're as easily upset as my father."

Syr almost opened her mouth to argue but stopped herself, it wasn't as if he would understand.

"Keep the truth to yourself, little rook. They want to have a word with you. I can't smooth things over if they're all angry with me, but I can calm them down if they're angry with you. And you've got quite the reputation now." He smirked, "They think you're as good a thief as I am."

"Whether I keep it to myself or not you'll never use my face again. I don't care what they think of me and I don't care what you can and can't smooth over." She stared him down and watched his smirk fade to annoyance.

"You shouldn't be ang-"

"Do you have people you want me to speak to or not? I'm not spending all day here. You're lucky I was still here when you showed up."

He gave her a peeved look and lifted his hand, "Eludora? Silfeya? You wanted to speak to Syreilla the Rook?"

Two women as different as night and day stepped onto the parapet. The smiling blond looked like she'd just been pulled from an elegant whorehouse, and the furious dark-haired woman seemed as if she'd been pulled from an idyllic vineyard in Syr's childhood.

"Bring Isca and Unren," the dark-haired woman snapped.

"Silfeya-"

"I want them to be here, I want her to face all of us and answer for her thefts." The woman stepped closer as if she intended to intimidate and Syr put on a wide mirthless grin.

"Bring them, old man. I hate repeating myself."

He lifted his hand and Isca stepped through with a faint smile on her face, followed by the most peculiar-looking person Syr had ever seen, clothed in what looked like seaweed and foam, not easily identified at first glance as male or female.

"You will give back-" Silfeya started and Syreilla widened her grin slightly, turning her full attention back and looking her dead in the eye. The goddess stopped mid-sentence.

"Your stones were borrowed and you weren't asked, I didn't steal them. If I stole them you wouldn't be getting them back. Isca knows why I borrowed hers, do the rest of you?" She glanced around at them.

"You intend to free Zyulla." Eludora inclined her head. "I don't disagree with your purpose but-"

"Then sit down, be quiet, and wait patiently to get your stone back. If you do disagree with my purpose," Syr grinned madly at Silfeya again, "we can have a chat about all the things I could have done and didn't do when your stone was borrowed. I'm not asking for them because, apparently, I share a temper with my grandfather, and I imagine you'd prefer to have someone to point to and say 'Don't blame me, blame her.'

"Grandmother goes free, as is right, and you don't shoulder any blame. Do you have a fucking problem with that, Silfeya?"

The goddess opened and closed her mouth and Isca snorted a laugh, "Are you sure she's yours, Odos? She could be your sister with that temper."

"She's mine but I should have suggested the name Ateilla to her mother."

"It would suit her." Unren smiled faintly. "I would have made it easier if I had been given a choice. I was fond of Zyulla."

"I like a challenge, taking them without asking is easier on you and it's the fun way to do it, if I'm being honest." She stretched and put on a more genuine smile.

Odos covered his face and started to laugh as the rest of them gave her deeply annoyed looks.

"Now I see you in her." Eludora gave the laughing god a withering look.

"After this is done, perhaps you can meet my little rook under better circumstances. She's charming when she wants to be."

"I expect my stone back." Silfeya glowered before she vanished.

One after another the rest left as well.

"That went well," Odos sounded amused and she gave him a flat look.

"I was told I should ask you about my draped mantle?"

"I had to leave it behind. They would have known the truth if I hadn't. The gods can peek at those carrying a blessed item, little rook, and that mantle had been blessed. The goddess of war didn't expect it to be noticed when she did it but I knew she wouldn't be able to resist once she saw you wearing it. I used it to help deceive them. Khiril helped me put on a little show at the mine entrance so they'd be none the wiser. It was why I gave it back to you."

She folded her arms and sighed as her disappointment washed over her. "I should have known better than to trust a gift from you. You were being sweet when you gave it to me and I should have known that meant it wasn't genuine. I liked that mantle for the memory."

For a moment he looked almost hurt, "I'll replace it."

"Don't bother." She lifted the gem and chain out of her front pocket but he stepped forward and took hold of it. It warmed in her hand as if he were adding something to it.

"Keep it for now. I let you borrow it to help you and you aren't done yet. I need to introduce you to someone and then I'll go smooth things over with your brother and Cyran."

She made an exasperated gesture and he opened a door for her to step through.

*Sixty*

As unobtrusively as possible, Vezar opened a door in a city he'd once ruled over on the edge of Orileria. It still seemed to bustle with people and the scent of elven perfumes hung in the air. He smiled to himself as he made his way into the markets. Cloth would be what he required most pressingly, he could impose upon a seamstress from among the dead if necessary. And a gift for his treasure... Any other woman and he would need to find jewelry or some of the finer elvish perfumes but she would be elated with something slightly less expensive. He knew she enjoyed books or a complicated lock to toy with.

His eyes moved over the stalls and came to rest on one that held a vivid selection of cloth bolts. The blue was what he wanted to see. Coming closer he reached out his hand to touch it.

"No beggars." A thin strip of leather came down across the back of his hand. "Move on, you'll scare away my customers."

He fixed the fat man in gaudy clothes with a furious glare and was gratified by the man's flinch.

"I am no beggar. I have money enough for the cloth if it's of the quality I desire." Vezar reached out his hand again and caressed the cloth. "The color is vibrant but the weave could be finer. Do you have anything better? And in black as well?"

The man began to stutter and a silvery elvish laugh made the skin on Vezar's neck prickle.

"I can show you finer, your Majesty."

He turned and found himself face to face with an elf of breathtaking beauty. She was as golden as Syreilla and looked as he imagined his half-elf treasure would look if she hadn't been born to a human mother.

"I... I would be grateful."

"Why have your clothes become so poor?" The woman reached out to touch his rough cloth garments and he struggled to summon his wits.

"My favorite robe was torn and this conceals me enough to venture into a market to find cloth for a replacement. You seem to know me, most beautiful one, I beg of you, tell me your name."

"You prayed to me..." She smiled almost slyly and Vezar bowed.

"Divinity. I was foolishly afraid. My treasure has returned her affection to me." Remembering that Odos had been trying to deceive the other gods he added, "She was briefly confused by the dwarves."

"She is a peculiar one, but I'm pleased your treasure returned to you." Rielle took his arm and began to walk with him. "I'm most beautiful?" Her teasing tone sent a small thrill down his spine.

"If my treasure were not half human and her features were as delicate and refined as yours, perhaps she would rival your beauty, Divinity."

The elf at his side looked pleased with the answer. "Come with me, the cloth will be brought to my temple for you to look over, King Undying."

To be seen as a King once more by a creature so lovely, he couldn't bear to refuse the invitation.

Vezar could remember the last time he'd enjoyed such fine wine and had so many beautiful women flocking around him. Memories of being a King, memories of being respected and feared washed over him as he selected the finest cloth from the hands of beautiful elvish women wearing nearly nothing.

When Rielle stripped his coarse clothes from him and discarded them, it was impossible to hide how the feeling of expensive fabric being fitted to him by the hands of beautiful women thrilled him.

The elven goddess drew him to her chamber with laughter like silver bells and a touch that made him burn as she spoke words of desire in the elegant tongue of elves. This was a creature to be gentle with, fragile and perfect, not a creature meant for his hands.

"You gaze at me Edra but you're so quiet!" Rielle pressed him back among the silken cushions of her bed. "Speak to me so that I know you desire my touch."

"Divinity..."

The goddess laughed and gave him a kiss so exquisite all he could do was groan. She was climbing to seat herself nearly on his hips, his achingly hard cock pressed between her perfect round cheeks. Her glorious breasts swayed above him.

"I can feel you desire me, why don't you speak? If you don't tell me, I won't mount you and then you'll be depriving us both! I've always wanted to ride a dragon!"

He caressed her flawless skin, aching to have this goddess ride him until he found his release inside her but the smile on her delicate face was not Syreilla's.

"I ache for it, but, Rielle, as beautiful as you are, as perfect and flawless, as magnificent, you are not my golden treasure."

"I'm better than she is. More lovely and refined." The goddess bent, kissing him lustfully as she ran her hands over his chest. When she stopped, she pouted prettily at him, "Your skin is so soft, you would deny me something I desire? I've denied you nothing."

"You have been kind, and I ache to give you what you desire, but, as imperfect as my Syreilla is, she loves me. She is mine and I am h-AAAHHHH!" The agony of threads severed as if by a burning blade, severed more completely than death turned his words into a scream. "What have you done?!"

Vezar shoved the goddess off of him and tried to reach out to Syreilla, his wail of pain and misery resonated in the chamber as he found nothing in her place. Rielle covered her ears before attempting to console him. He held out his hand to ward her off and she flinched away from his claws.

"What have you done?! How have you torn my treasure from me?!" He wailed again, rattling the windows with the agony of a dragon robbed of what was his.

The goddess ran to the stairs and took a few steps down before changing her direction, rushing up them with a look of horror. "It's gone! She stole it while I was here!"

The words washed over him like ice water. They had been speaking elvish. His treasure... she had been here and seen but she had not understood. She had only seen her dragon beneath... Vezar opened the door to go back to Hevtos, Syreilla would take the stone there and he would make her see-

It closed before he could stand to go through it.

"Did you plan this, Edra?! Did you distract me so that she could steal it?" Rielle was advancing on him furiously.

"My treasure has severed our bonds! She believes you seduced me, that I allowed you to take what was hers! Let me go to her! Let me-"

"She would have heard you refuse me!"

"SHE DOES NOT SPEAK ELVISH!" He roared the words and jerked himself up from his knees. "SHE SAW ONLY HER DRAGON WITH AN ELF!"

"Then she is repaid for stealing from me!" The goddess drew herself up, "If you no longer have threads that connect you, you're useless to me. I had intended to keep you-"

Vezar roared again in fury and anguish and Rielle took a step back as he charged at her with his claws ready to rend her flawless flesh. Before he reached her, a door was flung open and he stumbled, naked, onto Hevtos' doorstep. He wailed out his anguish once more and the Divinity was at his side, covering him with his cloak.

"Son of my son..."

"Rielle! I was foolish and nearly allowed myself to be seduced but I did not! Syreilla, my Syreilla saw! She has severed our bonds! My treasure! I have lost my treasure!" He looked into Hevtos' eyes and allowed the Divinity to see the truth.

"I should not have allowed you to go alone while there are those who wish to strike at my Golden Rook."

With a start, Hevtos turned and peered at a strange-looking elf who had appeared. Vezar snarled at the creature and its already large eyes grew wider.

"Finwion, why are you-"

The elf held out a gem and started making peculiar gestures.

"He did not betray her. His own foolishness put him there but he remembered himself before he made a mistake she could not forgive. My Golden Rook did not understand. I require her to return."

There were more gestures and the elf came closer to offer the stone.

"I will not make her see Vezar. Bring my Golden Rook to me, Finwion." Hevtos stood and took the stone.

The elf made a placating gesture and mimed opening a door.

"As Nimphon does, I allow doors to be opened on my doorstep and not beyond my threshold. I will not prevent you."

Vezar watched as the creature made a circle and seemed to polish it, within the circle he saw Syreilla staring at nothing as she dressed, her jaw clenched and an expression on her face that was strongly reminiscent of the one... He glanced at Hevtos who now wore the same grim expression as his golden treasure and then back at the miserable half-elf. If he could only speak to her...

With a wave of his hand, the elf made the image vanish.

Coming to his feet, Vezar pleaded, "Let me go to her, let me speak to her-"

"Finwion, you may give her some time, but she is my Golden Rook. She must be brought back. Her tasks are important."

Hevtos sighed as the elf vanished. "I suspect he will try to steal her away. Perhaps with her father's blessing."

"She loathes elves."

"She should loathe them less and you should be more wary of them."