The Hunter's Companions Ch. 08

Livinia ran her palms down her thighs nervously as she rushed towards the Court of the Sun. It had been four days since she had seen Belcarm and she was running terribly late. She had sent him a letter the day before to confirm that she would still be meeting him, but she hadn't foreseen that her business at Mount Hyjall would run so late. She hadn't gotten back to Silvermoon until just before she was meant to meet up with him, and the last thing she wanted to do was greet him while covered in blood and smeared with mud. She knew that he had seen her in worse states, but when he was in Dalaran he loved to dress up, so she could only imagine that he had pulled out his finest for his beloved Silvermoon.

Livinia peered around the rim of the grand fountain outside the front of Sunfury Spire and, through the throng of people, could see the quick flashes of emerald green and jet black as someone paced along the waterfall, disappearing behind the groups of mingling Sin'dorei. Livinia bit her lip and pushed her way through the crowd.

"Bel!" Livinia said when she reached the space that he had been using to pace. He stopped in his tracks and turned to face her, a confused smile on his face.

"Liv?"

"Well I'm certainly not Alexstraza." Livinia said, eyebrows knitting together.

Belcarm's confusion turned to a grin. One moment he was a few feet away from her, the next he had his arms wrapped around her waist and was kissing her hair softly.

"You came!" He said, stepping back and holding her at arms length to inspect her properly. "You look incredible." He said, his eyes raking over her form fitting black silk gown.

"I sent you a letter yesterday... I told you I was still coming." Livinia said with a frown.

"Yes, I know, but..." He trailed off and Livinia reached up and put her hand on his chest. Livinia had been right about him pulling out of the stops for Silvermoon. His tunic was deep emerald green and his breeches and boots were midnight black. They weren't overly fancy or intricately adorned garments, but the fabric itself needed no dressing up. The garments were perfectly cut to complement his stunning physique. As Livinia held her hand against his chest she could feel the tone of his muscles and the warmth of his skin, and her insides tightened.

"I said I would come and here I am." She told him with a reassuring smile.

"Does that mean that you've made up your mind?" He asked hopefully. Livinia bit her lip and looked away.

She had thought that the time away from Belcarm and Kalendras would help her clear her mind enough to make a decisions. She had been wrong. The only thing that the added time and space had done was confuse her more. She missed Belcarm just as much as she missed Kalendras, and the thought of losing one of them was too much to bear. She had given herself to that very morning to make a decision, and then when she had woken up in her cold bed roll she decided that she would wait until after the Diplomat's Ball. She had promised to meet Belcarm for the exhibition, and she had promised to go to the ball with Kalendras. Any decision she made would likely make her break one promise, and she didn't want to get into that sort of habit.

"I wish I had something to tell you, Bel." Livinia said "But I really don't know what to do. I still haven't made a decision. I understand if you want to call all this off. " Livinia gestured around her dismissively.

Belcarm looked at her thoughtfully for a moment before giving her a winning smile.

"We're both finally in Silvermoon -- together- at the same time. I want to enjoy this." He said, grasping her hand and bringing it to his lips. The feeling of his skin against hers, his hot lips pressed against her knuckles, made Livinia's knees weak. "Let's forget about everything else and enjoy ourselves, yes?"

"Sounds good to me." Livinia replied with a relieved smile. "What shall we do?" She asked, looking around their beautiful surroundings with apprehension. It had been months since she had been in Silvermoon for more than a couple of hours, and even longer still since she had spent the night at her childhood home.

"I have plans if you are happy to trust me." Belcarm said with a sly smile, offering her his arm.

"Please don't tell me that we'll be spending the afternoon discussing the curvaceous yet refined lines of the Sunfury Spire in the differing lights of the sun..." Livinia said good naturedly as he let her around the edge of the giant fountain.

"No, we'll be discussing the artistic representation of the Walk of Elders as it pertains to the historical culture of the Sin'dorei." Belcarm replied, Livinia's mouth dropped open and she looked at him.

"You can't be serious!" Livinia said, surpised.

"Well, that is what we will be discussing if you don't wait patiently to discover the true nature of my plans." He told her.

"Patient? Me? Remind me Bel, how long have we known each other for?" Livinia asked with an eyebrow cocked, Belcarm laughed and kissed her on the forehead, and Livinia's fears that he would still be angry with her drifted away on the light autumn breeze.

~*~

"You've got to be kidding me!" Livinia said, craning her neck to look at the white marble building in front of her.

"Why?" Belcarm asked.

"I think I'd rather talk about architecture than come here." Livinia said, gesturing to the blazing red phoenix carved into the plaque above the door of the building. Belcarm looked down at her again, but this time he just rolled his eyes.

"Come on, we're going in." He said, grabbing her hand and almost dragging her through the open door.

As soon as they had turned down the street Livinia had feared that he would be bringing her here. The Hall of Blood in Farstrider's Square was the headquarters of the Blood Knights and the last place she had expected him to bring her. Not only was it full of prissy Blood Knights (Livinia could only handle one of the up-jumped Paladins- and that was Belcarm) but there was absolutely nothing interesting about the Order. At least, nothing Livinia cared to hear about again.

Despite her protest, Belcarm led her confidently up the grand staircase, stopping occasionally to say hello to another Blood Knight, or to point introduce Livinia to one of his comrades. When they reached the fifth floor he took the corridor to the left rather than continuing up and then pushed gently on a blank space of wall at the end of the corridor. Livinia had to admit to him that she was impressed when the inconspicuous slab of marble noiselessly slid aside to reveal a well worn wooden staircase. "Come on, I don't want to be late." He said excitedly, and Livinia couldn't help but wonder what they were going to do. For a few moments she was concerned that he was going to take her to his room, but then she remembered that he preferred to stay with his Father when he was in Silvermoon.

The sun was beating down on the rooftop as they emerged from the relatively dark staircase.

"BELCARM!" A few voices cheered in concert as Livinia blinked furiously, trying to adjust to the sheer brightness of the sunlight reflecting off the surrounding white buildings.

"Hey! Hope we're not late." Belcarm said, putting his hand on the small of Livinia's back and leaving her forward. They stepped into a patch of shade cast by some sort of sun shelter and Livinia could finally get a better look around.

The rooftop had several chairs of all different styles set around it. There was a fire pit, a few very worn training dummies, some arrow filled targets and a long table in the middle of the roof. They had come out at the side of the building that joined to the neighboring one which had a slopes roof tiled with blinding white shingles. In addition to all of the furniture there were six other people. They were wearing differing amounts of armor, but the one thing that they all had in common was the black and red colors of the Blood Knights.

"Just on time actually." Said a particularly pretty woman standing beside a tall male. "We thought we'd wait for you two to get here before we started, so you could have taken another hour and you'd have still been on time." The woman said with a grin.

"Great." Belcarm returned, beaming.

"Livinia I presume?" The woman said, stepping forward and offering Livinia her hand. Livinia took it and shook it. "I'm Tirenna, this" she gestured the male she was standing beside moments earlier "is my husband Lionél."

Tirenna continued the introductions until Livinia had met each and every one of the other Blood Elves. When they were done Tirenna said something about getting ready and led Lionél off to one corner of the roof while the male that had been introduced as Kelthro stalked off into the opposite corner somewhat grumpily.

"What's going on?" Livinia asked, turning back to Belcarm.

"When we were out on our rounds Tirenna and Kelthro had a bit of a... hmm, disagreement?" Belcarm said.

"A bit of a disagreement?" Laughed a blonde-haired male standing nearby them, Livinia remembered that his name was Michel. "Kelthro and Tirenna almost tore each other to shreds!"

"Either way," Belcarm said with an indifferent shrug, "the Blood Knights do not tolerate in-fighting. If we draw arms against each other without suspicion of treason or serious insubordination we can be excommunicated from the order."

"So we solve our problems other ways!" Michel said with an enigmatic grin. "Observe." Said Belcarm, gesturing over to Tirenna and Lionél's corner.

Tirenna turned around with a pleased smile on her face, her hands were side by side, open and palm up, at waist level. Hovering just above them was an ethereal lion cub made entirely of light magic. Livinia gasped and then laughed as the cub shook its head and then sneezed. She felt a tug on her sleeve and turned to see Belcarm pointing to Kelthro's corner. Hovering above his hands was a large rabbit with extremely twitchy ears and a glowing light-made nose to match.

"You can use your magic for that?" Livinia asked, eyebrows raised curiously. She had always held great respect for magic of all kinds, only using it when needed and never for fun or show.

"We vow never to use our magic for selfish or frivolous purposes..." Michel trailed off.

"But for this, we make an exception." Belcarm said, winking at her and settling one arm around her waist.

"What do they do?" Livinia asked, watching as Tirenna and Kelthro made their way to the table in the middle of the space.

"They race them. They start on that roof top there-" Belcarm pointed to the blinding white shingled roof top near where they came out. "To that one there." He pointed to a towering steeple off in the distance "and back again. First to return is the winner."

"But they're made out of light!" Livinia said, watching as two very real looking light creations were placed side by side on the large table.

"That is the real challenge." Belcarm said with a nod, he stepped behind her and pulled her back against him. His arm came above her shoulder and he pointed to a spot of shadow on the roof of a building two doors over. "Every time they have to pass through a shadow in their path, it gets harder to sustain them." He explained "Today is a good day, not overcast or raining, so it shouldn't be too hard... but even sustaining them to reach the spire and back is difficult." He explained. "Some of us can't even hold them past a few roof tops away." He said.

One of the Blood Knights who had kept to himself thus far made his way over to the table and said a quick word to each Tirenna and Kelthro before stepping back and counting down, starting at five. When he cried "Go!" the two critters bounded off, running through the air and towards their first roof top. The rabbit got the head start- bounding powerfully from shingle to shingle, then from one gutter to another. However, after a few moments the Tirenna's lion cub pounced and landed on top of the rabbit, making Livinia gasp. Wasn't it supposed to be race?

"Keep it clean!" Cried Michel through cupped hands as the light rabbit's outline began to flicker. The Lion leapt off the rabbit and then bounded onto the next roof top. After a moment Kelthro must have regained his concentration, as his rabbit continued to hop along the make-shift track.

"Not strictly against the rules, but poor sportsmanship so early in the race." Belcarm whispered into her ear conspiratorially.

Livinia nodded and watched the critters tackle the first shadowed roof top. It was clear from Tirenna and Kelthro's tense postures that they were concentrating hard, and their light creations slowed as they crossed the roof, like stones falling through a vat of honey. But then the bunny crouched and leapt high into the light again, something which seemed to recharge it and it also served to help it cross the roof with minimum effort.

"Why do they have different animals?" Livinia asked Belcarm, not taking her eyes of the race as the two creations continued to hop along the roof tops.

"Comes down to personal choice and ability." Belcarm told her. "Michel is best at making wind riders, Sierra is renowned for her wyrmling- "

"Sierra?" Livinia asked, shocked.

"Yep." Belcarm replied. "Nobody wants to go against anything she creates- she can hold her own, that's for sure."

"Don't be so modest." Michel said, looking at Belcarm with a grin. "You've beaten Sierra."

"What? Really?" Livinia asked, taking her eyes off the action and looking back up at Belcarm. His cheeks reddened slightly and he shrugged.

"Yes." He said somewhat reluctantly.

"What were you two disagreeing about?" Livinia asked.

"You know, it's funny, I don't even remember-" Belcarm begun.

"Sure you do!" Michel cut in "She asked when you were finally going to get around to f-"

"My Charger will take down your wind-rider in a heart beat!" Belcarm growled warningly, but Michel just laughed it off.

"Yours is a Charger?" Livinia asked curiously.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I don't know." Belcarm said, and she could feel his arms move as he shrugged behind her. "It is usually something that we are familiar with, or can replicate easily. There are a couple that I have tried but I can hold the Charger for the longest. I tried to make Borris once, but for some reason the light-Borris disliked me as much as the real one."

That made Livinia laugh. Belcarm laughed with her and she turned her attention back to the race. The light creatures had made it to the spire, looking a little less radiant and defined, and then turned to make their way back to the roof top. At that moment Kelthro's rabbit had just taken the lead. The two creatures were just about to begin the ascent up a particularly steep roof when Livinia felt Belcarm's lips on her neck. She had to make a conscious effort to keep herself from leaning back against him. She had to stop herself from moaning in desire when his lips parted slightly and his tongue caressed her skin. His arms tightened around her and he pulled her back into him.

"I've missed you." His voice was soft but hoarse as he murmured his words into her neck. Livinia bit her lip and pulled away from him slightly, wanting desperately to submit to his intimate ministrations, but knowing that if she gave in now it would be hard to stop.

"I missed you too."She whispered back at him, so that he would know that she wasn't rejecting him. He planted a chaste kiss on her hair and she turned her attention back to the race just in time to see Kelthro's rabbit leap magnificently over Tirenna's Lion as it bounded to the table. The rabbit's paws touched the surface just before the lion's and then both flickered out of existence as the winner was announced.

"What happens when someone wins?" Livinia asked, looking back at Belcarm and grinning as she snapped him out of some sort of daydream.

"Hmm? Oh. Nothing really- it's just satisfying. Considering we can't actually fight each other aside from sparring, it is the only way we can compete properly." Belcarm said.

"Can I see your Charger?" Livinia asked, slipping out of his embrace and turning to face him as the other Blood Knights walked towards the centre of the roof to chat.

"Really?" Belcarm asked, shocked.

"Yes!" Livinia said, "Why wouldn't I?" She asked. Belcarm frowned for a moment.

"He still needs some work- he's not quite there yet. I have been trying to get his armor right for ages but-"

"Bel, just show me." Liv said softly, rolling her eyes. He shrugged and then closed his eyes, placing his palms up at waist height just as the others had. After a few moments of silent concentration a blazing ball of light burst into life above his arms and begun to spin, slowly at first, but then it sped up. As it spun, parts of the ball slowly begun to mould into a different shape, in the same manner that a potter moulded his clay on a wheel. That, however, was where the similarity to pots stopped. As the light spun, the shape really begun to form, seemingly of it's own accord.

When the light finally came to a sudden halt Livinia was looked down at a miniature version of a Charger. The horse stomped it's feet impatiently and Livinia couldn't help but admire the detail that went into it. The entire creature was wearing plate armor that was a replica of what Belcarm's Charger wore, even down to the Blood Knight logo on it's hind-quarters armor.

"Belcarm! He's amazing!" Livinia said enthusiastically, leaning over to get a better look at the creation.

"His armor need a bit of work- the part around his muzzle is all wrong."

"Are you kidding?" Livinia said, looking up at him in dismay "He is absolutely perfect! Can I touch him?" She asked eagerly.

"Give me a moment." Belcarm said, concentrating for a moment. The radiant horse dimmed slightly until it was not so blinding. "Okay, go on."

Livinia laughed as her fingers fell through the horse and it popped out of existence. It was hot- extremely hot. Sort of like placing your hand above a bowl of boiling water. Though unlike steam which burnt, the light horse made her finger tips tingle. When she looked back up at Belcarm he was gazing down at her with such intensity that it made her blush. "You have a beautiful laugh." He told her, bringing a hand up to stroke her cheek. After a moment he combed his fingers through her hair and pulled her face up to meet his, their lips colliding in a delicate kiss of longing and affection.

Belcarm wrapped his arms around her again and pulled her into him as his tongue slid along her lips, begging for admittance. She was only too happy to oblige closing her eyes and inhaling his clean fresh scent as one hand slid up her back and the other inched lower towards her buttocks.

Livinia jumped back quickly as the strange buzzing in the background turned into enthusiastic cheers. She turned to see the Blood Knights in the centre of the roof cheering and punching the air, all eyes on them. Her face flushed red and she turned back to Belcarm, embarrassed. She would have given him a mouthful but the mixed look of embarrassment and pride on his face softened her anger.

"Tirenna and Lionél have gone to the kitchens to get some lunch. Are you two joining us or are you too happy with your own party?" Michel said exuberantly with a wicked grin.

"Hungry?" Livinia asked Belcarm, holding her hand out to him.

"Not for food." Belcarm grumbled, glaring at Michel over her shoulder.

"Pull up a couple of seats." Said the Blood Elf who had started the race. Livinia gave Belcarm's hand a gentle tug and pulled him towards the nearest chairs.

~*~

A few hours later Belcarm said that it was time to move on. Livinia, much to her own amazement, found the present company to be thoroughly entertaining. She had made a point of not going to the Blood Knight gatherings with Belcarm. As she was growing up she had come into contact with several Blood Knights, at least one of their order appeared at every social function her parents dragged her to. She had always found them to be stuffy, boring and obedient to a fault. Add to that the fanaticism that usually came from any organized and single-minded group and Livinia had believed that Blood Knights made for terrible company.