11.

Sheriff Denrich awakens in a strange place.

11.

 

 

The sound of a handful of girls whispering and trying unsuccessfully to stifle giggles was what he heard first.   Slowly he became aware of a few things.   His head was pounding like it had been kicked by a mule.    His throat was raw and hurt to swallow and every part of his body from the hair on top of his head down to his toenails ached.

But Denrich was in the softest bed that he had ever laid upon and there was a cool damp cloth on his forehead.   He tried to open his eyes, but that was too painful, so he just focused on breathing and trying to catch the whispers of the girls who apparently were sitting nearby.

He could hear the creaking of rocking chair legs and the occasional clicking of knitting needles.    Clearly he wasn’t on board the arcane train anymore.    The faint sound of a steady rain on a roof far above told him that he was housed in a large structure.    The crackle of wood in a fireplace said to him that the lodgings were very rich.

A short time later he heard the rustling of skirts and he sensed a pair of young women (from their girlish whispers) peering at him from the side of the bed.

“He’s still sleeping,”  One girl told the other.

“I thought I heard him stir… I guess it was just wishful thinking!”

Both girls giggled and to his surprise, he felt a soft, dainty hand outline the contour of his right ear.

“I’ve never met a half-elf before!”

“I have - they aren’t any different than us.”

“Well this one certainly is!   He’s gorgeous!   Maybe I should climb up there with him and stroke his hair…”

More giggling and then, from somewhere, there came a series of chimes.

“Oh!   Time for dinner court already!”

“Come on, Lise; we’ve got orders to leave as soon as the dinner court bell sounded.”

“Well, he shouldn’t be left alone, you know!”

“You wicked girl!    You know they’ll send someone to sit with him through the night.”

From somewhere else in the room, another young voice said, “Come on, girls; we’ll catch hell if we’re late!”

“We’re coming,”   One of them near him answered and then he felt something warm pressing briefly against his cheek.

One of the girls had kissed him.

“Good night, Sheriff Half-Elf; please wait to wake up until I’m here with you tomorrow morning.   Dream of me!”

“Oh good grief,  Lise!   Come on!”

There came the sounds of skirts rustling as a group of women rushed out of the room and after the door clicked close, there was only silence again, except for the crackle of the wood in the fireplace.

 

For a few minutes he just laid there listening to the wood pop and the muffled sounds of music playing, apparently from the ‘dinner court’.    It took him several attempts to successfully open his eyes without experiencing pain.    The room was very dimly lit and it was a dark, rainy evening, yet even the faint light hurt him and caused his eyes to water terribly.    He tried to focus through the pain, but after a few minutes of struggling to see, he was forced to close them.

Frustrated, he plopped back down on the soft pillow and wiped the water from them.    He’d only caught a glimpse of the room, but he knew that it had to be some place very fancy, from the rich furniture and grand size.

A few minutes passed and he heard the click of the door as someone came inside.

“Hey, you are awake!”  A lovely female voice said as she crossed the room toward him.   He tried to open his eyes to look at her, for her voice seemed somewhat familiar, but he could not keep his eyes open.

“I’m having trouble seeing - my eyes are watering,”  He told the lady.   It wasn’t Avalynn, for this woman’s voice had a bit of a strange (but pretty) accent to it.

The lady sat down on the edge of the bed next to him, “It’s the poison, love; you had enough in you to kill three men.    You are lucky to be alive!    I’m told that your vision should return in a couple of days and the symptoms will pass.”

“How long have I been unconscious?”

“Two days -you’re probably wondering where you are, aren’t you, love?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I am.”

“You’re in Caelyin, in Reddric’s royal palace and he’s put you up in one of the fancier guest rooms.   You’ve had a group of six pretty, teenaged girls watching over you and mopping up your sweat all day.”

“So this is the palace?   But why would Reddric go to so much trouble?”

“Because I asked him to, love!   You’re a hero you know!”

“Hero?”

“Those weren’t bandits that stopped the train, though they wanted to look as if that was their purpose.”

“They weren’t?”

“They were assassins!”

“What?!   Assassins?”

“Hired by one of the wives -they think- of one of Reddric’s Barons who heard that the notorious Lady Xael was coming to Reddric’s court and feared that her lustful husband would fall for her charms.   She didn’t want to lose her status or be humiliated, so one of the Baronesses hired a group of assassins from one of the port cities to do the terrible deed.     They hired a wizard to cast a disenchant spell on a section of the magic rail, which stopped the train for a few minutes.    It was a good thing that the conducting wizard got the train running again, for many passengers said that there were about five more assassins trying to climb on board the train when he neutralized the spell and the train resumed movement.   Ten to fifteen assassins would cost a lot of money, even for a baroness, but that is what it looks like.   Of course that is just speculation, as all of the assassins were dead.    You killed all of them without a weapon, love!   Everyone here is talking about you.”

“Impossible!   I know of one that I killed, but I certainly didn’t kill all of them… how many were there?”

“There were five dead assassins - one had a slit neck, two had their necks broken and two had been stabbed with poisoned blades.”

“I didn’t do that!   I killed the one with a slit neck and perhaps one could have broken his neck after I hit him, but I certainly didn’t stab two other men.”

“Really?   Interesting… apparently some of their companions finished off their injured before fleeing from the train.   You’re lucky that they didn’t kill you too, love!”

“This is insane!    I thought that they were bandits attacking the train and I just did what anyone would have done - try to stop them.”

“Well, you did that, love!”

“Is Princess Avalynn alright?”

“Ava?   She’s fine - she’s even checked on you several times.  She’s immersed herself in the charm and drama of the High King’s court and loves every minute of it.”   The lady laughed slightly, “You saved her life too.    They were ready to kill and would have probably thought she was their intended target as she is tall and blonde.   Too bad about that merchant though - he should have just stayed in his cabin and let you handle it.”

“It sounds as if I’m lucky to be alive.”

“I don’t know if luck or your prowess at close combat is the reason, but everyone is talking about you and wants to come see you.   The King has announced that he will look in on you tomorrow afternoon.”

“Oh good grief; I really just want to get out of here.”

“Not for a few days, Love; you’re in no condition to move around a lot.    The healers said that the poison should work its way out of you in a couple of days, but you need bed rest for several days.

“I’ve got to get out of here!   You’ve got to help me.”

The lady laughed; an almost musical sound that was wonderful to hear, “I’ve been helping you for almost three days now, love!    First on the arcane train and then by insisting that Reddric put you up in noble quarters.   I owe you my life and thanks to your celebrity status, I was able to get settled easier.    That’s why I stayed here with you last night and will do so again tonight.”

“Who are you?”

“Why, don’t you know, love?   I’m the notorious w***e of kings and bishops, Lady Xael!”

Involuntarily he tried to open his eyes, but he could not focus and she held a cloth against them and eased him back down on the bed.

“Relax, love; you can look at me later.”

“Lady Xael, I apologize, I didn’t know-“

Xael laughed prettily, “My, but aren’t you such a proper gentleman!   Don’t apologize, love; we’ve already spent one night together!   Believe it or not, I even bathed you yesterday evening when your fever broke, as you had sweat like a pig all day.”

“Yesh preserve me!”

“I’d say that he did just that on the train, love!”

“Lady Xael, I can’t stay in your room; that wouldn’t be proper!”

“No one thinks anything is going on, love; you’ve been unconscious, you know.”

“Yes, but I’m not now!”

“Well, you’re certainly in no condition to try anything with me and from what Ava tells me, you’d not try anything even if you were fit and hale.”

“I try to avoid compromising situations, ma’am, and this one would appall the monks back home.”

“Well, don’t worry, okay?    Rumors are already bouncing around the palace about me, but they tend to do that all the time every place I go, and I am used to that.”

“I’m sorry about that ma’am, but please understand that I can’t have any rumors going around about me or it would embarrass the monks that I work for and they would be forced to fire me.”

Xael patted his shoulder, “Love, I tell you what I will do - if any rumors come out that compromise your integrity, I will vehemently denounce them.    I have made it a point to completely ignore all allegations and accusations about me and a sudden public denial by me would certainly surprise everyone who knows me and they’d believe it.”

“I’m not so sure, ma’am.”

“Call me Xael, love.”

“Well… okay, Xael, I appreciate your kindness, but-“

“Sheriff, are you ashamed to be in my company?”

“Me?!  No…I…well…”  Denrich sighed as realization came over him, “Yesh have mercy…you know, I guess I am.”

“I thought so, love.”

“Lady Xael, I am so sorry; you must understand, I’ve lived my entire life in a duchy ran by monks.  My patron was Mother Julia, who is almost a saint and I was brought up in a religious institution, so my views on all things reflect that.    I’m not used to this… unrestricted atmosphere.   I don’t mean to be prejudiced, but your reputation has gone out far ahead of you, I’m afraid.”

“Sheriff, I-“

“Please just call me Denrich,”  He interrupted.

“Denrich, believe it or not, I am not offended by your reaction.   In some ways, a notorious reputation gives some privacy and distance from people.    Sadly, many of those it repels are good people that I would most like to befriend.”

“Xael, I feel really ashamed of myself right now; I wonder if you could forgive me?   I have always prided myself on trying to be fair to everyone and you’ve made me see that I failed with you by being influenced by all the stories that I’ve heard.”

“I forgive you, love and just a word of advice - don’t believe everything that you’ve heard about me.    There are a lot of things that nobody knows that might surprise people.    Now that we’ve worked out our differences, will you stay here and allow me to nurse you back to health?”

“Alright; thank you for your kindness.”

“You’re welcome.   I confess that I have some ulterior motives for this as well - with you here, it keeps the young lusty noblemen from trying to seek me out for… um… amorous encounters.   Peace and quiet is rather nice for a change.    So see?   We can help each other.  Now tell me: are you hungry?”

“I think I’m getting that way, yes.”

“Good; I skipped dinner court by telling Reddric that I wanted to sit with you for a while.   I’ll have a tray of food sent to the room, but we’ll have to share because if anyone gets wind that you are awake, everyone will be clamoring to come see you.   This way you can at least have another night of rest before Reddric comes to see you tomorrow.”

“Is there any way I can get out of that?”  He asked as she rang a hand bell that he assumed was on a table near the bed.

“Dying would work, but other than that, I don’t think he’ll be deterred from seeing you.”

“Wonderful,”  Denrich groaned.

A servant knocked on the door and Xael went to it and placed a dinner order, which he could not quite make out.   

“I take it that you are not too fond of His Majesty?” she asked as she returned to the bed and sat down in her former spot.

Denrich shrugged, “I’ve never officially been introduced to him, but from what I’ve heard, he is rather difficult to like.”

“Well, he likes the ladies,”  She replied as Denrich laid back on the bed and rubbed at his eyes.

“I wish they would clear up,”  he said, nervously turning an ornate silver ring that he wore on his right ring finger “Not being able to see is quite unsettling.”

“That is a lovely ring you’re wearing; tell me about it,”  Xael responded, hoping to calm his nerves by distracting him from thinking of the upcoming royal visit.

“My ring?   That’s my most prized possession.    It’s just inexpensive silver, though the design is quite fancy, but it was found hanging from a chain around my neck when the monks of St. Wemricshire found me as a baby.”

“You were an orphan?”

“Yes; I never knew who my parents were.”

“Probably an elven woman fearful of bearing a half human child.”

Denrich frowned slightly; he knew she had probably noticed his slightly pointed ears, but hoped that she wouldn’t - somehow- realize that he was a half-elf.

“Love, don’t worry about it; I have no problem with it at all,”   She suddenly took his hand and held it up to one of her ears and he felt a gentle point, “You see, my ears are about like yours.”

“So you’re a half-elf?”

She chuckled, “Something like that… but go on and tell me about your ring.”

“Well, the monks showed it to a metal worker in the duchy and he said that it’s old.    What’s more, a practical magician who did work at the Monastery detected an enchantment on it.”

“An actual magic ring!”   Xael exclaimed.

“Yes, but it doesn’t do anything as far as I can see.   Well, that isn’t exactly true, because it changes size just enough so nobody but me can wear it.”

“Really?   Let me try it!”  

He slipped the ring off and handed it to her.   A few moments later she sighed, “You’re right!    I can’t even get it over my pinky finger!   How odd!   Apparently it is meant to only be your ring.”

“I guess so; the monks figured that my mother - or whoever left me on the doorstep of St. Wemric’s- gave it to me.   Nobody that I’ve asked has been able to tell me anything more about it.    I’ve heard that you’ve been around the world; do you have any ideas?”

“It doesn’t look elven to me, but other than that, I have no clue,”   She took his finger and slipped it on, marveling at how the ring changed shape to perfectly fit him.

“So that is all that you really have from your parents?”

“Yeah, if it did actually come from my parents.   It sounds crazy, but I always felt like it connects me somehow to my mother.  I mean emotionally connects us…crazy, huh?”

“But you never saw her?”

“No,”   He told her about Mother Julia’s patronage and how it was to live as a child in a religious institution.

“Heavens, love, no wonder you are so straight-laced!”  Xael replied after he’d finished, “Did you ever ask Mother Julia about the ring?”

“Yeah, but she just said that I should treasure it as it may hold a clue one day to who my parents were and who I am.    A rather cryptic statement, don’t you think?”

“She sounds like a very interesting woman,”   He felt Xael recline on the bed next to him, which made him extremely uncomfortable, but he didn’t want to be ridiculed for his nerves, so he didn’t protest it.

“Mother Julia is an amazing woman.   Strong, very devout, brave, but at the same time humble.    I’ve heard that when she was queen, she was much more ruthless and scheming, but when Reddric murdered his older brother and took the throne, she changed.”

“So he let her live?”

“Yes; though she supported his older brother, he gave her the option of retiring to a nunnery for the rest of her life or be executed and she chose St. Catherine’s.     It didn’t take her long to become the Mother Superior of them.”

“No doubt she’s no fan of Reddric either!”

“You know, she never said a word about him, either good or bad.   If his name came up in conversation, she’d respond in such a way that would indicate her neutrality.     Reddric, I am told, was very nervous letting her live up there at St. Catherine’s, at least at first.   But she has given him no trouble at all and he has a sort of truce with her.”

“Do they ever see each other or speak?”

“No, not since he banished her.”

“Does the High King know about her patronage of you?”

“No, though she isn’t keeping it a secret.   She’s just kept it low-key and Reddric doesn’t care what she does as long as she doesn’t plot against him in any way.”

“Love, I wouldn’t mention her to him tomorrow when you have an audience with him - unless you are forced to.”

Denrich nodded, “I think you’re right, Xael.”

He could feel her body’s warmth next to him and the pleasantly soft scent of some flowery perfume that she wore.    Shifting nervously, his hip was tickled by some of her hair which apparently was quite long.

“Are you in pain?”  She asked, seeing him squirming around.

“It’s about the same - I ache, but it isn’t exactly ‘pain’.”

 

There came another knock on the door and once again Xael went to answer it.    A moment later he heard the sounds of a couple of servants carrying trays into the room.   

“Here,”  She said to them, “I’m giving you each a gold piece if you will not mention seeing Denrich awake.   If you keep this a secret, I can guarantee you that I will tip you generously each time you bring things to me.    But if it gets out…”  

“No ma’am, our lips are sealed!”   One of the servants, who sounded like a young teenaged boy replied, and a grunt came from the other one too.

“I have a lot of gold, boys, but if you can’t keep a secret for me, that will be the last of it you will ever see.”

“We didn’t see anything, ma’am!”  The other boy now passionately agreed, “You can count on us.    I’m Khavein and he’s Jord - ask for us by name any time; we’ll keep our mouths shut!”

“Alright, Khavein - I’ll remember that.   Good evening to you.”

“Good evening to you, ma’am!”   The two boys hurried from the room, excited to discuss with each other their wealth and good fortune.

“I hope they won’t tell anyone that I’m awake,”   Denrich said as he breathed in the wonderful smell of the warm food.

“From the gleams in their eyes when I handed them each a gold piece, I doubt that they will.     That is probably about what they make in a month’s time in wages.   They’d be fools to give up a chance to make more for silly gossip.”

“I will pay for my dinner, Xael; I have gold in my belt pouch-“

“Nonsense!  I am repaying you for saving my life, Love!    Don’t worry about gold - I probably have more than Reddric and all his nobles combined - though most of it is concealed where no-one will ever find it.    Money is nothing to me, Love.”

“That must be nice,”  He mumbled as she handed him a plate of food, “I’ve never dined without seeing what I was eating.”

“It’ll be a new experience,”  She plopped down next to him with her own plate, “It’s nothing fancy - sliced ham, boiled potatoes, corn still on the cob and freshly baked bread.”

“That’s quite a dinner where I come from!”

“They have much more exotic fare, but this is all I could arrange.   They have a limited menu for room service.”

“I appreciate your kindness, Xael.”    They sat and ate for a while without saying much except about the fine quality of the food.

Finally, near the end of the meal, Denrich tried opening his eyes again and sighed in frustration to have them water as badly as before.

“Sorry, Love; your vision will return, believe me.”

“I’m just impatient - I’m not used to being incapacitated.   Xael, may I ask you something?”

“You can ask - I might not answer though,”  She joked.

“Well, if it offends you, please forgive me, but I am curious.”

“Go ahead; I have had many conversations that begin that way.”

“You probably know how your reputation has spread far and wide, and you said earlier that I shouldn’t believe everything I’ve heard.”

“Yes, there has been a lot of… embellishments… of my exploits.”

“I was just wondering where it all began for you.    You certainly don’t sound like someone old enough to be hundreds of years old who has done all the things they say you’ve done.   Even allowing for most of them to be embellished; that still is quite a long time to be… notorious.   Are you really that old?    I know elven races don’t age, and I don’t know exactly what race you are, but there is just something about… your character… that seems young and optimistic.   I’ve been listening to you closely since I can’t look at you and I find it hard to believe that someone who has gone through so many… adventures… would sound so… untainted by them.”

A long awkward moment of silence made Denrich fear that he’d offended her.    But just as he was searching for something else to say, Xael took a deep breath and finally spoke.

“Denrich, love, I am rather unnerved by your discernment.    I don’t feel comfortable right now giving you a direct answer - it is best for the time being that this remains a mystery to you.     But I am very curious what sort of stories have gone before me into Alybia.    Tell me about what you’ve heard, love - don’t hold back anything from me.”

Denrich finished his dinner and let Xael take the tray and set it outside the door.    She had him lay back and get comfortable in the bed, which felt extremely good as he had begun feeling worst the longer that he stayed upright.

To his surprise, she slid down beside him, laying uncomfortably close as she urged him to tell of the stories he’d heard about her.

“Are you sure?”   He asked, very nervous about how the warmth of her body was making him forget his own aches.

“Yes; I’d like to know just how notorious I actually am here,”  She replied, so near to him that he felt her breath on his cheek.

So he began telling the tales, his voice stammering and more than a little bit uneasy at first.    But after a while it became amazingly easy and he enjoyed listening to her reactions to some of the tales.   Many times she laughed as if that was the first time she’d heard them.    Her snorts, giggles and occasional hardy laughs were quite charming and quickly put his mind at ease.

Before he knew it he had talked for two hours and she had slipped his arm around her so she could rest her head against his shoulder.  She began idly running her fingers through his hair as he talked.

“Um… that’s about all that I can remember,”  He said upon finishing the last tale.

“A most entertaining - and informative- collection,” She responded, whispering in his ear as she stroked his hair.

His body shivered at her touch and even blind and sick from the effects of the poison, she was getting to him in a surprisingly powerful way.

“Um…I don’t know if you ought to do that…”

“Nervous, love?”   She purred.

“I just don’t think this is funny, Xael.    You know how uncomfortable that I am, and I can’t even see straight so-“

She stopped him by placing her fingers against his lips, ”Easy, love, I was just trying to get you to relax.    Most people find having their hair stroked rather soothing.”

“Oh… well…yeah, but I just… um…” Denrich stammered, blinking his eyes to try to see but without any luck.   Frustrated, he rubbed them and sighed, “Sorry… you just make me uncomfortable.”

“I do?   Why?”

“Well, I can’t see you, but you sound and smell very lovely and… well…”   He didn’t finish his sentence, feeling too stupid to admit that he’d not been around a woman in such an intimate setting.

Xael laughed softly, “Oh, I see!   Goodness, love, there is nothing to be scared of!”

“I’m not scared!”  He protested.

“Of course not!    I meant nervous - there is nothing to get nervous about!    I wasn’t planning on seducing you!”

“Oh… well, that’s a relief,” He said, blushing, “I guess I’m just a bit uneasy not being able to see.   You don’t know what you miss until you lose your eyesight - even temporarily.”

“Denrich, why don’t we just call it a day and get some sleep?”

“That sounds fine by me,”  To his dismay he heard the sound of Xael unlacing what he guessed was a corset or something on her dress.

“What are you doing?” 

“Getting undressed - now don’t let that bother you; you can’t see me, can you?”

“Well… no.”

“This is my room, Sheriff!    Just don’t let your imagination go away with you.   I’m going to slip into my night clothes.”

“Okay… sorry.”

“You are very high strung, love!”

“I’ll calm down when I can see again.”

“Hopefully that will be soon.”

He heard her slipping out of something then a few moments later heard her wiggling into something that rustled like fine silk.   For once he was glad that he couldn’t see her.  The fabric continued to rustle as she returned to the bed.

“I’m ready - get up and help me slip the covers down.”

He did as she requested, groping blindly until he found the edge of the cover.

“Good; now get back in and lay down,” She commanded and he slid back down onto the bed with a groan.

“So where are you going to sleep?”  He asked, though he was quite certain of her answer.

She snorted, “I’ll let you figure it out.”

He didn’t argue and as he expected, she reclined close to him.

“I guess this will be okay; the bed seems big enough for both of us, as long as we each stay on our respective sides,”    But as he was saying this, she wiggled close to him, then gently but firmly slid his head over so it was resting against her very ample chest.  

The smell of her floral perfume and the warmth of her full breasts were stimulating to him as his head rose and fell with her breathing.

“There you go; comfortable?”  She cooed.

“Xael, this isn’t proper!”

“What do you mean?  I even wore something to bed - I usually don’t wear anything.   I thought that would ease your mind, love!”

“Xael-“

“Shh!   Just relax and rest, love.”   She began gently stroking his hair again, while softly humming what sounded like a lullaby.

“You’re not making this easy on me, are you?”  He commented as he lay against her breasts.

“Shh!”  She replied and just resumed her focus on him.

To his amazement, after a few minutes, he began to relax and soon fell asleep in her arms.