The Heart that Shields You

[Edreina]

The Sunset Quarters
The 8th Bell of the 49th of Winter, 513AV

Edreina woke to the chill of a dying fire, and the light of Syna's rise. It was colder today than it had been yesterday, she could immediately feel. Sitting up, she was utterly unsurprised to see the boy laying where he had the night before, pillow beneath his head. Even if he had woke while they slept, the cold had probably kept him inside. Next to her, Razkar slept propped against the headboard, chin against his chest. Poor thing had probably fallen asleep watching the boy, watching out for her.

Rafael could not stay here; Razkar would never sleep well.

They could not send Rafael out into that cold; she would never sleep well.

In the Svefra's mind, there was only one option left. As quietly as she could, she slipped from the bed and then from the room. Down the stairs she walked as quietly as she could, boat-dwelling tendencies allowing her to drift across the squeaky boards nearly silently.

The door to Jillene's room was open and the blind-woman moved silently and surely through the halls, on her way to the orphanage, no doubt. Edreina had learned little of the woman during her time in Sunberth, but enough to know that she could trust her.

"Need something?" The woman asked abruptly, causing Edreina to start visibly. Jillene laughed, shaking her head so that her black hair danced in the dim light like a living shadow. "Only two reasons people stop behind me: ta ask me for something or ta kill me. Now, you perpetually smell of salt, and the way you walk isn't how most around here step. Must be the Svefra girl i rented a room to awhile back; don't strike me as the senselessly killin' type. So, what do you need?"

I'd kill to be able to notice the things you do... Edreina thought with a wry smile, hands on her hips. "I'd like to rent out another room for the rest of the season, if that's possible?"

"Things not going well between you and your Myrian?" Jillene asked, smirking. "The walls sure say otherwise." At that, Edreina was glad she could not see how she blushed.

"No no. A friend of ours needs a place to stay... I'll give you ten gold for the room?" She knew the rooms were cheap, but not cheap enough to realize she was offering too much.

A native Sunberthian, the blind woman was never one to turn down offered coin. Besides, most of it would go to the children. "I'll be up tonight to collect," Jillene answered simply, nodding to herself. "Your friend can have... there is one a floor above yours and one room to the right." With that, she went about her business, leaving Edreina to trot back up the stairs and to her room.

If Razkar was still asleep when she returned, she would sneak over to the boy's side and nudge him gently, finger coming up to her lips to hopefully keep him quiet when he woke. Probably did not like seeing a witch standing over him, first thing in the morning, she considered. In any case, if he was able to stay silent, she would lead him to his new room and be done with it. If not, Razkar would be thrown into the equation.

[Rafael Colebourne]

As dawn brightened the horizon, Rafael awoke to a gentle stirring beside him. Lazily, he opened one eye, then the other, only to stare straight in the face of Edreina. A bolt of energy shot through his spine, but his drowsy frame remained perfectly still. For a tick he thought she was there to kill him in his sleep, but she gestured for him to be silent, and the light of morning was already pouring in.

No, these people were not killers. If they had been, they hadn't gone through the motions to nurture him first and get him inside. People were killed every day on the street without repercussions, whoever the savage and the witch really were, they weren't killers.

Outside, the city was waking up, though it was really never asleep. Every bell someone was out and about, trading slaves, doing shady dealings, or simply strutting about. Over the last night, in spite of the cold, a healthy blush had appeared on his cheeks and his hunger-filled eyes now had a vivacity to them. The thin lines of his eyebrows met above his nose, his voice was coarse and low, "what is it?"

Propping himself up a bit on his hands he stared sheepishly at Edreina. "Is something wrong?" he whispered. His jaw nearly unhinged as he let out a quiet yawn and blinked a few times to adjust his eyes to the morning sun. Still groggy, his mind began to search for a reason why she was urging him to remain quiet. Perhaps she wanted to allow Razkar to rest. Was he supposed to work for them already? He didn't remember discussing his employment with them, but then again he didn't remember much.

A wave of disappointment coarsed through his veins as he glanced briefly at his left hand. It hadn't been a dream after all. Smiling melancholically at Edreina he awaited her reply. There was nothing on her face that betrayed urgency, she merely desired discretion.

[Razkar]

She wasn't there. Dreams had not yer fully faded and rude reality was as insubstantial as they... but he knew her presence did not warm him. Before his eyes had fully opened he was grasping, pawing at... nothing.

Empty sheets. Chilly room. Bare room. Just a hint of warmth where once she'd lain. She'd been gone a while.

Then Razkar realized she was not alone: the boy was nowhere to be found, either. Panic seized him but he forced himself to cool, to think before he acted. The curse carved onto his chest was vivid proof of what happened when he did not. So see the Myrian on the bed now, near-naked, staring alternately between the bare bed and the bare floor, thinking at the speed of a hawk flying... pondering...

No signs of struggle. If he'd waylaid her, I would never have woken up. She left and he followed, or... vice versa?

At once he was a blur of movement, urgent and unimpeded by the weariness of sleep. He swung his long legs off the bed and the occupants of the apartment below grumbled as his bare feet smacked onto the floorboards. A Myrian through and through, before breeches and cloak came his harness. A specially-made leather construct that held most of his weapons. Gladius, hand ax, dagger, kukri... all were soon weighing him down in a most familiar and welcome manner.

Then came the rest and he was out the door.

He took the steps two at a time, marching hard like he was on parade back in Taloba. Clunking crockery from the room ahead of him told him that Jilene was home... and the door was open. But as he reached the doorway and opened his mouth-

"Ah, morning, Myrian."

The words froze before they could be uttered and Razkar just about managed to mutter, "How did-"

"You clank."

"What?"

"When you walk." The milky-eyed female waddled over to a blazing fire under a cooking pot, arms laden with peeled potatoes. "Your weapons clank. Every step you take something tinkles or clinks or chinks or whatever."

Razkar actually found himself wounded, at least on a professional level. He'd always prided himself on his ability to move quietly when he had cause.

"I don't hear it."

"Of course you don't," the woman shot back matter-of-factly, slicing up yet more vegetables for her orphan's soup, "You've got eyes, and they work. People like that hardly use their ears as much as people that don't. Like me."

"Well, I suppose when you put it-"

"You're hear about your woman, hmm?"

"Yes, I... wait, how-"

"Well, you're a little out of breath and-" she inhaled deeply and her nose crinkled "-didn't bother to wash. You jumped right out of bed, didn't you? No wash, no food, came right here. Why else would you do that?"

"You see... ah, I mean to say, that you-"

"Don't know where she went to, dearie," Jilene continued on like a galley at ramming speed without oarsmen: stopping for nothing. "But she did pay for a room this morning. Just above yours and one room to the right. Paid in advance, too. Must be in a hurry."

No voice, only hitched breathing answered her. Many thought Jilene's world to be a dark and hopeless face, devoid of form and color. But in fact it was sometimes more raucous than their own. Sounds and smells painted pictures mere vision never could, and after a lifetime of experience, she had become very good with her brush.

"You alright, love? You seem a little."

"She didn't..." The voice was the same, but the tone... she'd never have expected it from such a mouth. "She wouldn't!"

"Son, maybe you should-"

"She bloody well did, didn't she?!"

Clank-clank-clank he went, disappearing up the way he came until the vibrations from the back staircase. He was taking them fast, too, and she could still hear the whispers of his savage muttering as he flew up and up.

"Ah, young love," Jilene sighed to herself, "Always so complicated..."

OOCThought I'd mix up the narrative a little bit, since I didn't want Raz to appear until you two were gone. If it's too soon or too hard to work around, lemme know and I'll hold it back. You two can back-and-forth until yer ready for me.

[Edreina]

"Follow me..." Edreina whispered, glancing over at the still sleeping Myrian. On her toes, the Svefra crept over to the door. After holding it open for Rafael, she let it close with the faintest click as the wooden bar slid into place.

Up the stairs she led him, to the floor above, and then down the narrow hallway to the room adjacent and above her own. "Razkar would never allow you to stay with us," she said, pulling the rope that lifted the beam, then pushed the door open. "So, I rented this room out for you. I couldn't live with myself knowing that I'd sent you back out into that... cold." Mentally, emotionally, and physically, Sunberth was cold. It cared not for a maimed boy nor any other citizen, for that matter. In her voice, Rafael would hear no attempt to garner admiration for her deeds, in her gentle voice, only an attempt to explain them.

Surely, he would be looking for some sort of trickery, some kind of ruse to cause him more harm. Though her eyes still hurt and were faintly pink from Overgiving the day before, she channeled a trickle of Djed into her eyes, pleading for the boy to trust her. It should not have been too drastic an attempt to make for Edreina, with her bright, innocent blue eyes, all but screamed trustworthiness. "There's a bed... a wash bowl... a chest with drawers for anything you wish to stow..." The Svefra immediately cringed, realizing that the boy was likely wearing all that he had.

"If... if there is anything left in your old... residence... I can go with you to retrieve it? If not, I have some spare coin. I can take you to get warmer clothes... new shoes... even a blanket or two, if you'd like?" Worrying that she may have been overwhelming the boy, she turned and sat on the crunchy straw mattress, one hand toying with the edge of the sheets while another reached up to flick a wayward red strand from her eyes. In the movement, her fingertips caught the light and she frowned lightly, realizing that the bruises from the day before were worse, now dark and purple like she had run her fingers through indigo dye. Never again would she let herself use so much so quickly. It was just annoying, if anything; she dared not to even think of the dangers.

She would give him a chance to respond before nodding and smiling, rising to her feet and stretching slightly. "We should probably get out there and-"

There was thunder and the distinct cluttered sound of metal on metal and leather and flesh as Razkar moved up the steps. Sighing, she moved in front of the door. The redhead had hoped to have all done before he woke, but apparently that was not an option now. When the steps stopped, she pulled the door open and brought up her eyebrows as if he was intruding. It was almost comedic, the way she caught him by surprise, one hand up to knock with a tight fist and his mouth open to shout her name, no doubt. "Can I help you?" Almost pointedly she shifted her weight to occupy the doorway, arms crossed over her chest. But, as much as she would hate to admit it, she would never be able to stand up for him should he choose to enter the room, anyway.

[Rafael Colebourne]

Unsure what Edreina was up to he hesitated for a moment, but got up eventually. Apparently, whatever or whoever she was leading him to, she didn't want to involve the savage.

Wait. She'd rented a room for him? For him? Perhaps he'd been wrong to judge her, perhaps there were still good people in Sunberth. He entered the room barefooted and gakwed around. It wasn't too big, and a little dusty, but there was a small fireplace, and a bed, and a table.

He hardly listened to her pointing out the numerous facilities his room had. Instead, his eyes were trained on her. She was quite a striking figure, her red hair seemed ablaze in the morning light. He could imagine many a man having asked for her hand, and many more having been turned down.

"Thank you," he said in a low voice. His eyes started to water and burn, and he brushed away a tear with his sleeve. Before he could thank her, the door crashed open. It was Razkar.

Edreina tried to shield him from the savage, but he ignored her. Perhaps it was because he still hadn't fully woken up, or perhaps because she'd instilled a sense of caring in him but he wrapped his arms around Edreina and hugged her like a son would hug his mother.

"Thank you," he whispered again. He didn't care anymore if Razkar would kick him out or not, he only cared that she'd shown herself to be willing to give him a place to stay. His frame trembled as he rested his chin on his shoulder --they were equally tall, and no matter how hard he tried to close the floodgates of his eyes, tears of gratitude just kept flowing down his cheeks.

OOCMy apologies for the late, and somewhat crappy, reply. I've been much more busy than I'd like to be, but I should be able to post more consistently in the future. I love RP'ing with you guys and am doing my best to make some time for you everyday from here on out.

[Razkar]

Like men the multiverse over, he'd been rehearsing his indignant rant on the march up the stairs. Oh, his wording would be full of righteous fury! Surely she would confess all, deny naught and see the error of her ways.

But then he was before the door - Apartment 14B, according the the dog-eared card plastered onto it - hand raised, mouth ready to roar-

"Can I help you?"

-and she completely defused him. Careful (if immature) plans fell apart in ticks; his mouth gaped and closed like a dying fish's for a few more... and then he saw the wide-eyed youth beyond her, staring over her shoulder at the very literal wolf at his door.

"I... What..." Come on, boy, rally! If you can do it in battle, for the gods' sakes! "... what are you thinking?! I bought him back, you patched his hand, this chapter is over! Why prolong it?!"

Muttering to his side bought his head snapping around, mouth set in an instinctive growl, and woe betide anyone who-

"Oh... my apologies, Mistress Marlena."

The widow Marlena arched the eyebrow known and feared by suitors to her daughter across Zeltiva. Even a thousand miles from the jungle and its matriarchy, Razkar felt the distinct urge to bow... and only just suppressed it. The well-preserved older lady (who'd shown great potential as a tailor, Edreina had reported) cleared her throat and sighed.

"Mister Razkar, I do hope you aren't causing some sort of ruckus, hmm?"

The "hmm" was what sold it: added a layer of genteel menace that was a threatening in its way as a slobbering serial killer. The Myrian warrior coughed and turned back to Edreina, a pleading glint behind his irritable black eyes... which faded, crushed like an ant underneath an elephant when Rafael threw himself around his fucking female.

"Not at all, Mistress... if someone would let me in...?"