The Hunter's Companions Ch. 08

Of course her dislike of Blood Knights didn't extend to Belcarm. When he had first truly become part of their group she had laughed and he had just brushed her off. He had always been entertaining, and he had never been one to go on fanatical rants at the drop of a hat. She had found Sierra similarly easy to be around, the only aspect of the Blood Knights that both Sierra and Belcarm seemed unable to shake was the highly inflated ego.

Livinia and Belcarm has used the meal time to exchange information about their recent adventuring- Livinia told Belcarm that Hyjall was disappointingly boring and he had told her much the same about the undead activity along the Dead Scar. As they spoke they quickly fell back into their casual banter, but no matter how normal things seemed Livinia couldn't help but remember the way that Kalendras and Belcarm had both shared her body.

Talking to the other Blood Knights provided Livinia with a good distraction from her wandering thoughts and increasingly troublesome desires. It turned out that Tirenna and Lionél had been married for quite some time, and had been members of the Blood Knights for even longer. Michel was a relatively new member of the Order, a few years younger than Belcarm and herself, but his rogueish personality and natural charisma combined with some skill meant that he had ascended the ranks fairly quickly.

"Well, that was actually pretty fun." Livinia said as she and Belcarm made their way out of the Blood Knight's building.

"Really?" Belcarm asked with a smile "So now will you admit that we are not all boring drones, then?"

"Fine." Livinia said with a laugh. "Not all of the Blood Knights I have met are boring drones... Just most of them." That made Belcarm laugh. He tugged gently on Livinia's hip and steered her towards the Walk of Elders.

"Where are we going?" Liv asked curiously. "I need to go home for a few minutes to grab a couple of things, and then we'll come back to the Silvermoon for dinner." He said.

The walk to Belcarm's house was a pleasant one. The sun was slowly sinking down below the horizon and casting a soft, muted green light to dance beautifully below the canopy of the Eversong Woods. Belcarm told Livinia more about his Blood Knight friends and Livinia told Belcarm about all of the unfortunate incidents that had befallen her and their guild mates at Mount Hyjal.

"Is your father going to be home?" Livinia asked, as they turned off the path through the forest and onto the overgrown track that led to Belcarm's cottage.

"No, he said he'd be working late tonight." Belcarm replied, Livinia had to quickly stifle her sigh of relief with a sneeze.

Even though Livinia wanted to meet Belcarm's father, the idea made her nervous. The worst part about it was that she hadn't yet decided who she would pick between Belcarm or Kalendras, and meeting Belcarm's father made her feel as though her decision was slowly being made without her input. It was a natural progression that she wasn't sure she could follow through on.

However, as they approached the cottage, Livinia found herself becoming more and more interested in the idea of seeing Belcarm's childhood home. She had been in the woods around his cottage a number of times in their early years of travelling together, but she had always made up some excuse to avoid staying with him. Most of the time they were honest ones, like that her parents would prefer her to stay with them in the city, other times she politely declined visiting because the last thing she wanted was to have to answer the questions about her parents that his father was sure to ask. It wasn't that she hated her parents, but she constantly got tired of being judged on their merits. Plus, frankly, she had far more interesting things to talk about. The cottage was quite small. Which wasn't unexpected of course- outside of Silvermoon and Dalaran everything seemed to be of a smaller scale. By the look of it there would be two rooms, with an absolute maximum of three. It was built from the same trees of the surrounding forest and camouflaged with its surroundings very nicely. When they reached the door Belcarm stopped, sighed, and then looked down at her.

"It isn't much, but it's home." He said slowly, Livinia rolled her eyes.

"My parents place is probably ten times larger than this, but I am willing to bet that this was more of a home than my house ever was." She said with a smile. Belcarm smiled back at her and opened the door before standing back and letting her enter.

Belcarm's home was exceptionally clean and tidy and Livinia could only guess that he had inherited his finicky orientation from his father. The main room was large, and had a cooking and dining area, as well as a seating area with three very comfortably looking chairs in front of a large natural stone fireplace. There was one door on the opposite side of the large room. The wooden walls were unadorned with the exception of a few well polished weapons on placards and a painting of a beautiful blonde woman with a soft smile.

"Is that your mother?" Livinia asked, pointing to the picture. Belcarm looked over and nodded. Livinia took a few steps closer towards the woman and could see a little of Belcarm's features in her. "She's beautiful." Livinia said smiling at him.

"Thankyou." Belcarm replied in a clipped tone. He had never spoken much about his mother, save to say that she was no longer with them. From the little snippets that Livinia had gotten she had come to the conclusion that whatever had happened to Leonié Sharpsword was highly unpleasant and very traumatic for her son and husband. After mentioning the picture Belcarm's mood had turned somewhat sombre and Livinia felt terrible.

"It is hard to believe that such a beautiful woman gave birth to a son as repulsive as you." Livinia sighed with mock sadness. Belcarm turned to her and his frown changed into an attractive half-grin.

"You didn't seem to think I was so unattractive when I was kissing you earlier today." Belcarm growled.

"Really? How do you know?" Liv challenged "There are a lot of things that look much better when I just close my eyes." To prove her point she closed her eyes.

The next moment Belcarm's arms were around her and his lips were fighting against hers. Desire flooded her instantly and she responded to his kiss with enthusiasm as she wrapped her arms around him. His tongue found its way into her mouth and she moaned at the sweet taste of him. He pulled her body tighter against his and she could feel the stirrings of his erection pressing against her through the fine fabric of their clothes. Quickly, desperately, his hands begun to explore her body, grazing over the curves of her hips and sensuously caressing the plane of her lower back as he ground himself against her.

One instant Livinia's feet were on the floor, the next they were dangling in the air as Belcarm swept her up into his arms. Livinia broke the kiss and looked at him, her chest heaving with desire. She shouldn't be doing this with him- not when things were so uncertain. But when he backed into the door and it swung open she couldn't help but think of how good it would feel to have him inside of her after three very long and very lonely nights. When he put her down on the bed and climbed on top of her, separating her legs with his knee, all that she could think about was how hot he felt as he pressed down against her.

"You've got your eyes open Miss Sunspeaker." Belcarm whispered throatily as his lips found her neck.

"Turns out I actually quite like the look of y- OH!." Livhia's response was cut short when his grinding changed into a hard thrust. She felt his breath as he chuckled against her neck and thrust against her again.

It was Belcarm's turn to groan when Livinia's hand crept up his tunic and down into his breeches to grasp his firm arse. He pressed against her again and nipped at her neck playfully.

"You have far too many clothes on." He told her. He pulled away from her for a moment and looked down between them. He slipped his hand down her thigh and begun to gather the fabric of her dress up in his fist, drawing it further and further up her thighs.

A soft bang and the sound of shuffling outside the room interrupted their moment of passion. Belcarm leapt off her like he had been burnt.

"Bel? You home?" A deep voice called through the small cottage.

"Damn it." Belcarm cursed under his breath, looking at her with desperation. Livinia got up off the bed quickly, smoothing the fabric of her dress down and quickly running her fingers through her hair. Belcarm looked around, spotted a large pack, and snatched it off the ground before walking towards the door.

"We're here Dad. Just on our way out." Belcarm called out, giving Livinia one last look over before nodding, apparently satisfied, and opening the bedroom door. "We?" Aegon Sharpsword asked, peering over his son's shoulder curiously.

Livinia had to stop herself from gasping. Belcarm looked just like his father with the exception of his nose, he had his mother's nose. Apart from that Livinia wouldn't be surprised if even she mistook one for the other on an off chance. Livinia could feel her cheeks color annoyingly as Aegon's eyes fell upon her. Her entire body was still singing with desire and she felt uncharacteristically guilty. Now that she was concentrating on something other than Belcarm and his manhood, she realised that there were two beds in the room. Two beds. She was so close to having sex with Belcarm in a room that he shared with his father. His very handsome father.

"Dad, this is Livinia Sunspeaker." Belcarm said, stepping aside so that Livinia was directly before his father.

"Of course." Aegon said, offering Livinia his hand.

"Mr. Sharpsword." Livinia said, taking his hand and shaking it politely. "It's nice to finally meet you. Belcarm has told me wonderful things about you."

"Has he now?" Aegon laughed, "So, what are you two up to?"

Livinia couldn't stop herself from turning even redder and cursed herself. Belcarm, however, was the picture of complete composure as he held up the pack he was holding.

"Just on our way out." He said to his father.

"You won't be staying for dinner?" Aegon asked, looking somewhat disappointed.

"No, unfortunately. We had better get going soon. I want to get back to Silvermoon before it gets too dark." Belcarm said with an apologetic smile.

"Are you going to-"

"Yes." Belcarm cut his father off and Aegon nodded knowingly.

"Have you got the sh-"

"Yes!"

"Are you taking your mace?" Aegon asked, voice suddenly fatherly and stern. It made Livinia smile.

"No, I'm sure we can manage without it." Belcarm said, waving his hand dismissively.

"Nonsense. Take your mace." Aegon turned to Livinia, "Have you got your bow with you?" He asked, Livinia shook her head in answer but was slightly surprised that he knew of her choice of weapons. Belcarm must have spoken to him about her before. Either way, the walk back to Silvermoon City wasn't really that long, and there wasn't anything in the Eversong Woods that she or Belcarm couldn't handle without weapons.

Aegon frowned at his son and turned around, walking over to a cupboard that blended so well into the walls that Livinia hadn't seen it before. He opened it to reveal a healthy supply of weapons and reached in, taking out a longbow that was old but in splendid condition. He bent over and picked up a quiver of arrows and walked back. He held them out to Livinia and she took them with a small smile.

"You can borrow them for the night, just in case." Aegon said, giving Belcarm a look that clearly meant that this was non-negotiable.

"All right then." Belcarm said a little too loudly, sliding the pack onto his shoulders.

"We'll be heading off now." Belcarm slid past his father and went to the corner of the main room where his weapon was leaning against the wall.

"It was lovely to meet you Livinia," Aegon said, favouring her with a kind smile, his emerald eyes twinkling. "You should come over for dinner some time. I'd like to get a chance to chat to the woman who has my son so enchanted."

"Dad!" Belcarm half snapped half groaned. Livinia laughed.

"That sounds lovely Mr. Sharpsword." Livinia responded with a grin.

"Aegon, please." Aegon said as Livinia slipped past him and took Belcarm's outstretched hand.

"Goodbye Aegon!" Livinia called over her shoulder as the front door clicked shut behind them.

"Enchanted?" Livinia asked, turning to Belcarm. His cheeks reddened and she laughed. "Why Bel, I never knew!"

Belcarm muttered something under his breath that Livinia couldn't decipher, but she didn't bother asking him to repeat it. After the failed attempt at sex and his father's clear protectiveness, he was probably a little on edge at that moment. Even though the meeting with Aegon had dulled her desire significantly, Livinia could still feel the pull of unsatisfied longing deep in her groin.

They chased the sun all the way back to Silvermoon City, chatting about various things along the way whilst pointedly avoiding any sort of conversation about what had happened in Belcarm's cottage. The walk through the Eversong Woods was a picturesque as always, but when Belcarm veered East after passing Farstrider Retreat instead of continuing North Livinia was puzzled.

"I thought we were going back to Silvermoon City." Livinia said, Belcarm grinned at her.

"We are." Belcarm said.

"The gate is that way." Livinia said slowly, pointing in the general direction of North.

"Well dolah'surfal, we are heading this way." Belcarm said pointing in the direction they were headed.

Livinia wanted to point out the obvious error in their choice of course, but was distracted by the Thalassian pet name he had used for her. Dolah'surfal, my love. Her stomach filled with butterflies and her cheeks flushed at hearing those words from his lips. After a few minutes of walking in silence she was finally able to string together a few coherent words in her mind and turned to speak to him only to see his face plastered with a massive grin.

"Speechless, dolah'surfal?" He asked, amusement twinkling in his eyes.

"You wish." Livinia said with an undignified snort, hoping to cover the fact that he was quite obviously right. "But I must admit that I am puzzled by the sudden loss of your sense of direction."

"I said that we were having dinner in Silvermoon, I didn't say which part." Belcarm said cryptically.

"We're having a picnic along the Dead Scar are we?" Livinia asked jokingly "Because while that is a wonderful place for a fight I can assure you that I do not enjoy zombie stew."

"No, not the dead scar." Belcarm laughed "A little further east."

"The Ruins?" Livinia scrunched her nose up "So it won't be zombie stew but Wretched urchin pie?"

"Not pie, you know I don't like pie. I was thinking more Wretched urchin steak and potatoes." Belcarm said.

"No, seriously, where are we going?" Livinia asked.

"Ruins of Silvermoon." Belcarm said again, this time his grin turned a little more serious.

"No wonder your dad wanted us to take some weapons." Livinia muttered with a frown.

"It'll be fun, I promise!" Belcarm said. Livinia sighed and continued to follow him, he had never led her astray before.

The sun had sunk below the horizon by the time that they reached the gates of the ruined half of Silvermoon City. Even though Livinia had no read affinity for history or architecture, even she felt a little subdued by the ominous sight of the ruins. The other half of what had previously been a thriving and life-filled city. On the outside you could almost pretend that everything was as it was supposed to be. In the light of a half moon you couldn't see the obvious signs of disrepair that had become a hallmark of the ruins. In fact, it wasn't until you passed through the gates and saw nature where there was supposed to be structure that you could tell something was wrong. Instead of being the residential hub of the Sin'dorei capital it was relegated to the Wretched that now inhabited it, looking for any scrap of remaining fel magic they could find. Apart from Falconwing Square it was uninhabited, the old buildings that survived the wrath of the Arthas and the Scourge loomed in the distance.

Seeing the Wretched walk over the failing cobblestones like undead made Livinia's skin crawl. She had seen plenty of horrible things in her time as an adventurer, but nothing was so horrifying as one of her own kind who had let their addiction to magic ravage their body and mind beyond recognition. Livinia's hand reflexively tightened around her bow and Belcarm begun to walk a little closer to her.

"We're headed up there." Belcarm told her, pointing to a tall spire along the far city wall. "Hey Liv, look! The Huntress of the Sun!" Belcarm whispered, pointing to a large statue to their right, glowing dark gold in the moon light.

Livinia turned to looked at the giant statue of a Blood Elf huntress aiming her bow up to the heavens. She was standing on a large platform shaped like a medallion. The details of her armor were worked into the statue itself, following the traditional Kaldorei style, probably built way back when the city was first founded by the High Elves.

"I think she looks like you." Belcarm said as they passed the statue.

"Because she is a Huntress?" Livinia asked. Dress a female blood elf up in similar armor, give them a bow, then paint them gold and any Sin'dorei could look like the statue.

"No, it is the pose." Belcarm said rolling his eyes, "So powerful, determined and focused. When this city was in the height of its glory she would have stood, towering above the busy streets and noisy markets, her aim never failing, her focus never wavering."

Belcarm stopped walking and turned back to look at the statue again. Livinia turned around as well and tried to imagine what the statue would have looked like in the middle of a town square, or beside a grand arcade.

"That is what I see when I look at you." Belcarm told her, looking between her and the statue. "When you are fighting that is what you look like.... Powerful..."

Livinia couldn't help but smile at the compliment. Even though she thought that Belcarm's mind was clearly addled due to his unsatisfied sexual urges, her stomach fluttered with delight at his words. Even if she didn't agree with it, it was wonderful to know that he thought so highly of her.

"You know Bel, just over a month ago that would have been one of those creepy comments that I put down to classic over-compensation." Livinia told him, "But thank you." She said before he could take it as an insult.

There was a loud bang and a bit of moaning and both of them turned to their left to see a bunch of Wretched urchins around the remains of a cart, scuffling over something.

"Let's keep moving, yeah?" Belcarm said, taking her hand and turning back towards their destination.

The stairs inside the tower spiraled around and around in dizzying circles. Every time they passed a window Livinia looked out and could see that they were climbing so high that the head of the Huntress of the Sun was now well below them. They had come across a couple of Wretched urchins on the ground level of the building but had managed to skirt past them without too much hassle. When they entered the corridor that led to the stairs Belcarm shut the doors behind them and wedged several pieces of splintered furniture below the door before bringing the bar down. It was unlikely that any Wretched would come this far, but at least if they did Belcarm and Livinia would have a fair amount of time to prepare themselves.

When they finally reached the landing Livinia could have sworn that they had claimed as high as Dalaran. Considering the state of the rest of the ruins, this tower room was still in good condition. The room was very large and looked to be perfectly round, with a bowl shaped depression in the ground that held a cracked crystal globe with a large shard missing from the top. At first Livinia thought that the roof had come down at some stage, but she then realized that the roof was actually a dome of glass or crystal that gave uninterrupted views of the sky beyond. Livinia walked to the part of the wall closest to her and peered down into the city. Everything below them was tiny now, and so much of it was lost in the darkness. In the inhabited part of Silvermoon they would have looked down upon a well lit ant-hill of activity. People would have been bustling about their business or milling around socializing. The only movement from below was the sway of a tree in the wind, or the erratic motion of a Wretched.