"Oh, gods, Miss. I remember little Trevor," Melissa says with a laugh. "He was the one with the hair all curled up, wasn't he?"
She turns to Saleh.
"Miss was about eleven ..." she begins.
"I was twelve," Elizabeth interrupts in a curt voice.
"... and the Manning's was visiting playing matchmaker with Miss Evelyn."
"My sister," Elizabeth interrupts again. Melissa gives her a glare and continues her story.
"Well their youngest was this adorable boy with all this curly blond hair - name of Trevor. It seems that he'd been reading books 'bout knights and their ladies and he got it into his head that my miss was his lady and he wanted a lock o' her hair. Kept pestering her for it in fact, but she kept telling him no."
"He was an idiot," Elizabeth interjects.
"He was only ten! Of course he was an idiot. So's he gets this bright idea that he was going to get his lock o' hair anyways. He waits till Miss is in the library, deep into one o' her books and he sneaks up behind her and tries to cut some o' her hair off with this belt knife that he carried." She giggles and tries to collect up herself to continue. "She goes and wallops him across the face with her book! He never came near her again. They left later that day."
Melissa's mirth overcomes her and she begins laughing out loud.
"Served the little t$@$ right," Elizabeth says with a haughty look of satisfaction. "Although Mother gave me a lecture on the proper treatment of books and how they aught not to end up blood-spattered."
Saleh applauds heartily. "A true fighter from a young age then!" He says, grinning widely at the story. "Do all nobles lead such interesting lives from a young age Elizabeth? Or is it simply how Melissa tells it?"
"She certainly has a way with a tale," Elizabeth says as she looks at the red-head with a barely concealed grin.
"That twern't no tale, Miss, that happened and you know it," Melissa says. "And if'n you're not nice, I might tell Mister Saleh the 'Tale' of you and the first time you tried a regular saddle rather 'en a side-saddle," she threatens with a small smile.
Elizabeth's eyes widen. "You wouldn't," she says in a quiet voice.
Melissa tips her head a little to the side as if to say, 'Wouldn't I?'
"I think it's time to leave," the sorceress says in a curt voice.
You make your way out of Lachrymosa's lair, laden with her veritable hoard of treasure. The city will at last be safe from the ancient monster's schemes.
Granted his life, Marcello works to convince the rest of the Gogenthaler clan to cease their agitations, and the riots across the city quickly quiet down. Captain Riza and the city guard work to suppress the nascent rebellion, and soon order is restored to the streets. Gateway will remain a part of the Empire--for whatever that means in these troubled times.
You've definitely earned the chance to relax and enjoy the fruit of your labors. And more than that, you find yourselves at the cusp of a new path of power. What will you do with your newfound abilities? Time will tell...
Kragga: You spent your time drinking or doing drugs. At the start of the next adventure, you become fatigued until you complete the adventure. (Going to re-skin this as being fatigued from advanced pregnancy.)
Melissa: You made a lifelong friend (as a commoner) who will accompany you on your adventures and help you.
Saleh: You were conscripted or press-ganged. You spent much of your time pulling an oar, standing guard, or swabbing a deck.
"I think you had better just get used to it," Elizabeth said as she put her soup spoon down. She could only conceal her grin so much. "I don't know how to get used to it, Miss. It's just ... It ain't natural is what it is," Melissa hissed out in frustration. Elizabeth covered her laugh with a cough.
"And how are you enjoying your soup?" the girl with the short dark hair asked as she entered the dining room. She had a towel in her hands. Her words were directed to the two women enjoying their afternoon meal, but her eyes were on the nervous redhead. "The soup is excellent, Reva. Thank you," Elizabeth said with a smile. The dark-haired woman continued to wait with an obvious eagerness for Melissa's response. "It needs more onion," Melissa said in a sharp voice. "And ya might want to learn what salt is."
"Yes, Miss. Sorry, Miss," Reva responded, her voice tremulous. "I'll get the main, then." She then turned and retreated back through the door.
"Now that was just cruel," Elizabeth said with a frown, placing her spoon down next to her bowl. "She really values your opinion."
"I didn't ask her to value m' opinion, now did I?" Melissa snapped back. "It's like havin' a stupid puppy follow ya home. I don't want her here. All I did was keep those good-fer-nothin's from turnin' her into a prize to pass around. Why she was in a tavern like that I'll never know. Horrible things happen in places like that."
"You know very well she's new to the city and doesn't know which places are safe and which aren't. Don't you remember what it was like to be that naive?"
"I don't think I was ever that naive."
Elizabeth made a tutting noise and rose from her chair to walk around behind Melissa's. Placing her hands on the woman's shoulders. "It's refreshing to see someone with that much innocence. Besides, you're a woman of wealth now and it's only proper that you should have someone looking after your personal needs."
"I'm quite capable of seein' after me own needs, Thank you very much," Melissa snapped. "An' I'm supposed to be looking after you, Miss." There's a plantive note to Melissa's words. A longing for the way things used to be. "We grow and we change, Melissa," Elizabeth said as she leaned down to speak softer into the woman's ear. "As we get older and more experienced, sometimes we discover that the things we needed when we were younger aren't the same things we need now. Sometimes we find that what we need now is ..." Her words fail her and Melissa turns to look directly into the woman's eyes, their faces a scant fingerwidth apart.
"What does ya need now, Miss?" Melissa asks finally, when the silence stretches out - her voice barely above a whisper. Elizabeth looks at her silently for just a moment before her lips move to respond.
"Here's the chicken," Reva says, coming through the door, carrying a platter with sliced and braised chicken breasts.
Elizabeth stands and walks slowly back to her seat, but Melissa could swear that there was a trace of a blush on the normally stoic woman's face.
"Thank you very much, Reva," Melissa snapped at the young woman.
"You're welcome, Miss?" Reva answered, unsure of what she'd bungled this time.
~~~~~
Elizabeth took a sip from the teacup sitting on the elegant tablecloth. It was cold and she set it down in annoyance. It hadn't been sitting there that long, had it? She flipped the satin bookmark into the page she was currently reading and closed the book.
"Is something wrong with your tea, Miss Adamell?"
She looked up to see the face of a blonde-haired serving woman. "I'm afraid that it's gone cold," she answered in a tired voice. "I'll get you another one, then. A Lady like you shouldn't have to deal with cold tea, now should she?" The serving woman said with a warm smile. She picked up the cup and saucer and began walking away.
Elizabeth sighed and stretched a little. Perhaps she had been a little too engrossed in the tome she was reading. She looked around the very elegant tea-room she was sitting in. She was making one of her family-required social appearances and had negotiated it to include this quiet, exclusive tea room that catered to the rich and influential. She chose it because it was a serene environment and it didn't serve wine or other spirits. Melissa had been raising an eyebrow at her level of wine consumption lately so it was partially in deference to her friend's concern. It was also free from the brutishness that some of the nobility considered to be good manners.
The sharp tinkling of broken china interrupted the quiet conversations. "You clumsy b@~#@! Look what you've done!" a man's voice exclaimed.
At least it was normally free from that sort of thing.
She looked up to see the blonde serving woman who had taken her teacup frantically attempting to dab spilled tea from a fat man's very expensive, pale-cream waistcoat. "I'm so sorry, Sir," she said as she blotted futilely at the garment. The man reached out and grabbed the woman by the wrist with a huge, meaty hand. "Ow! Sir! You're hurting me," the woman protested, clearly in pain now. "I haven't begun to hurt you yet," the man snarled and raised his other hand which was forming into a fist.
Before he could strike, there was a sharp snap and the smell of ozone filled the sitting room. The large man was flung stumbling back, grabbing at his own hand in pain.
Elizabeth's eyes widened. By the hunted look in the blonde woman's eyes, she was the source of the magic.
With a wave of her own hand and muttered arcane words, the man's angry response slowed to a crawl and she stepped forward to take the woman's hand in hers. "Come with me, please, before he really gets up a head of steam."
With her book in one hand and the blonde's trembling fingers in the other, Elizabeth strode purposefully out of the exclusive business and into the busy street. A few more steps put her around the corner and out of sight of anyone that might be interested.
"You've put your foot in it, now haven't you? What's your name?" she questioned the woman next to her. "Beatrice, Miss," the blonde said, her eyes going instinctively to the pavement. "Beatrice then. May I ask a candid question?" Beatrice hesitated a moment before nodding. Her face never looking up from the ground. "Why do you bow and scrape, serving over-priced tea to uptight nobles that treat you like that?"
Beatrice looked up in confusion. "Miss?" she questioned.
"You obviously have the gift of magic. You shouldn't have to debase yourself like that," Elizabeth said with a frown. "You can touch the other side. You're above that."
"I only know a bit, Miss. And that won't feed me, nor give me a place to sleep at night. It's not like nobody's lining up to teach me more," the woman snapped back. "I could go to Master Willam, but he don't teach no woman that won't spread her legs for him and ... and I won't do that. The others ain't much better. All groping hands and suggestions to learn 'other kinds o' magic' that you can only learn if'n you strip down and show 'em things you shouldn't be showin' 'em."
Elizabeth was about to retort with a sharp remark about valuing yourself better than that when the memory of the requirements of her apprenticeship intruded into her thoughts and she pressed her lips together. "Come with me," she snapped out and turned to begin stalking down the walkway. It never even occurred to her that Beatrice wouldn't follow. "Where are we going?" the blonde woman asked as she hurried to keep up with Elizabeth's long strides. "Somewhere that you can learn with dignity," was the noblewoman's only reply.
"Wot the 'ell 'appened to you?" The carter asked in shock as he pulled up next to the figure waving him down on the lonely road. Clad in a fine suit of armour the man cut an imposing figure at a distance and the carter had assumed that he was being waved down by a knight, or a man of rank at least. The battered and scarred face that greeted him put pay to that idea. No knight would have allowed himself to be beaten so heavily that his face was nearly one huge purple mass, and no knight at all would wield the thick hammer that hung loosely from the man's large hands.
"Bandits." The man said, giving a slightly rueful laugh. "I need a ride to the nearest town. I have silver..." He reaches for where a belt pouch would hang and raps his knuckles hard against plate metal. "And I might need help taking this damn thing off once we get there." He adds, shaking his sore fist. "If you'll give me the ride?"
Luckily the cart was empty and the horse well rested, so even with added burden of a large man and a considerable weight of plate metal it trotted along at a good speed, responding to the gentle flicking of the carter's switch as a looming castle, topped with a thick plume of black smoke, appeared on a distant hill around a corner of the bend.
"Trouble?" The armoured man asked, jerking upright from where he had been dozing in the back of the cart, one hand reaching for his hammer.
"Naw. Dat ol' cassle tho. Gives me e' creeps. Sum soljer mun set up there. Folk say e' doin' magik and such, tryin' to summon a demon." The carter spat sideways, making the sign of the New God and a far more pagan gesture in quick succession to ward off evil. The horse picked up its masters displeasure and the cart fairly flew along the road until the dark tower was once again hidden by a spur in the valley.
"Saaw, wot you doin' ere then?" The carter asked. "You look like e' sort who dun get much truble. Wat appened?"
"I met an old friend." Saleh replied, staring off into the distance where the castle stood behind the hills. "My old commander in the army. It's been a long time since we last saw each other. Best to say we parted on bad terms last time. This time... well, the next time we meet - one of us won't walk away."
The carter shot an uncomfortable look over his shoulder at his passenger. "E' doo 'at to ye face?" He asked eventually, hoping the question wasn't too personal. Saleh laughed.
"Yes. But you should see what I did to him!"
--------------------------------
A knock on the door jerks Elizabeth and Melissa from their quiet dinner. Melissa is half-way out of her chair when the dining room door opens and Reva appears in the doorway.
"Excuse me Miss Elizabeth, Miss Melissa. There's a man here, says he knows you both..." Behind her Saleh appears in the doorway, dirty, face covered in stubble and lingering bruises. He is moving slowly, weariness evident in every clanking step as his armoured frame moves slowly into the room.
"I'm sorry that I'm late for dinner..."
"Mister Saleh!," Melissa shouts out and leaps from her seat to run and embrace the battered man. "Where was you? Me and the Miss 'ave been worried sick." she says holding the man close.
Elizabeth's look of shock and relief is quickly covered with her default look of passive indifference.
"A gentleman wouldn't keep two ladies waiting for dinner," she says in a cool voice. "And he would know what and what not to wear in the dining room." She dabs at her mouth with her napkin, but only someone really observant would notice that she dabs quickly at her eyes as well.
"Reva, would you prepare a plate for Mister Saleh? He's quite tardy for dinner so I'm sure he's very hungry."
"Umm ... before you do that, Reva?" Melissa interjects. "I think a hot bath would do more for Mister Saleh." She looks thoughtful. "In fact, I'll ready his plate and bring it to him there."
The dark-haired girl blushed and nodded with a smile. "Yes, Miss, I'll see to the bath right away. The second guest room?"
"Yes. Oh, and Reva? Use the large tub. Mister Saleh needs room. Get one of the boys to help you with it."
"Yes, Miss," the girl acknowledged with a faint giggle as she slipped out of the dining room.
Saleh returns Melissa's embrace, although its obvious to the woman that he's near the point of collapse and he leans on her a little, seemingly unable to not take support wherever it is offered.
He knows Elizabeth too well now to be offput by her tone and straightens carefully to give her the bow that politeness and formality demands. "My apologies Lady Adamell. You are quite right, I'm in no fit state for dinner." Melissa's plan of a bath is offered at the perfect moment and Saleh accepts with a tired nod.
"Please, finish your dinner. I don't think I'll be able to join you tonight." He advances and bends down to kiss Elizabeth's cheek. "I'm sorry." He whispers softly, one large hand resting briefly on top of her narrow white one, before he straightens with a soft groan and heads slowly upstairs.
By the time Melissa arrives with a plate of bread and cold meat Saleh is mostly undressed, clad only in a pair of dirty and sweat soaked trousers as the manservant who had helped carry the tub carefully lowers the last piece of plate armour into a pile nearby. Saleh glances over his shoulder at Melissa with a ghost of his usual smile and slowly peels the garment down until he stands completely naked. His entire body is deeply tanned - whatever has been happening to him happened with him practically naked for some time, long enough to tan quite heavily at least.
Saleh groans more than once as he clambers into the tub and then lets out a long sigh as he finally sinks into the warm water. He slides downwards and, if the tub were big enough, would likely have disappeared under the water entirely. As it is his head and his knees protrude from the water and silence reigns for a long time as Melissa chases the other servants from the room with orders to burn what remains of Saleh's clothes and then takes a seat by the tub.
"Are you both alright?" Saleh asks sleepily. "They threatened you both, said they'd poison you both if I didn't go without a fight..."
"Who's 'they'?" Melissa asks with a frown. "Hold on a moment, 'cause I don't want you falling asleep in there." The red-head stands and, in an instant, divests herself of her dress and her undergarments. She then has the man lean forward in the tub and climbs in behind him, wrapping her arms around him and pillowing him on her chest.
"Now tell me who threatened you so I can find them and make sure they don't threaten nobody no more," she says.
Before Saleh can answer, Elizabeth bursts into the room and slams the door behind her.
"You need to get in the habit of giving your maidservant something to do otherwise she'll spend all her hours gossiping," the woman announces to Melissa as she crosses the room. Without breaking stride or removing her elegant dress, she steps into the tub and falls to her knees in the warm water in front of the soldier. Reaching up she takes his face in her hands and presses her lips to his. She then wraps her arms around his neck and presses her face into his shoulder. A moment later and he can tell that she's shaking with sobs.
"I told ya that we missed ya," Melissa whispers.
Saleh wraps both dripping arms around Elizabeth and holds her tightly so that the three are wrapped in one, somewhat complex and very wet embrace.
"I'm sorry." He whispers quietly into Elizabeth's ear. "I missed you both. So much." In an unaccustomed display of emotion the scarred man feels tears welling up and, surrounded by love and affection, the tears ooze from his eyes and fall silently into Elizabeth's dark hair.
The three remain, nearly motionless, until the water has lost all its warmth and Elizabeth begins to shake in Saleh's arms. She climbs out first and Saleh is so exhausted, physically and emotionally, that he barely manages to stagger across the room and fall, still damp, into the bed where sleep claims him almost immediately.
A wordless conversation passes between Elizabeth and Melissa. Elizebeth then frees herself from her soaked dress after a quick toweling, joins Saleh in the smaller bed, pulling his head to her chest and wrapping her arms around him.
Melissa takes a moment to tend to the wet dress before slipping off to her own room to quickly don a simple nightdress. She disappears downstairs to tend to the help and give final instructions for the evening. Once that's completed to her satisfaction, she returns upstairs to join the duo in the small bed, pressing her body against the soldier's back.
"See, Miss?" she whispers to her mistress. "I tolds ya that he'd be ok."
Elizabeth simply nods and gives a slight smile - just happy to be holding Saleh in her arms.
For the first time in two months Saleh sleeps soundly and free of worry...
And then finds in the morning a problem he hasn't had for two months...
Melissa wakes just a bit after Saleh and notices his 'problem' with a bit of a giggle. "Uh, Miss?" she whispers quietly attempting to get her mistress' attention. She's not sure yet what the proper protocol is yet for certain things and doesn't want to overstep.
"Too early," the woman grouses back, rolling away and pulling a pillow over her head. "Whatever it is, you deal with it."
Melissa giggles again. "Your wish is my command, Miss," she says before reaching behind her and adjusting the 'problem' to more properly accommodate her own situation. She presses back a little firmer and gasps slightly. "Now don't make a lot of noise, Mister Saleh," she whispers. "Miss likes to sleep in sometimes." She then begins moving her hips in earnest.
Saleh contains himself well enough, but the massive grin on his face throughout shows that both he and Melissa find the situation thoroughly amusing.
Once their respective urges are satisfied he winks and whispers in Melissa's ear. [smaller]"So. What happened to you two while I was gone?"
From under her pillow, Elizabeth's muffled voice can be heard. "If you two are quite finished, I'd like to go back to sleep."
"Oh, don't pay any attention to m' Miss," Melissa says with roll of her eyes. "She's always a prickly one in the morning." She gives Saleh a wink and slips over his panting body to put herself next to the dark-haired woman. "You just has to know how to soothe the beast," she continues as one of her arms moves under the blanket, seeking out the secret to morning peacefulness.
"What are ...? Oh ... oh ... that's not ... that's not fair," Elizabeth says with a faint groan from under the pillow. Melissa just smiles.
"Miss has been busy," she begins, seemingly paying no mind to the woman slowly squirming under the blankets next to her. "She's got two students now, staying in the downstairs guestroom. And she's teachin' 'em magic. She said something 'bout finding a more appropriate place and maybe opening a school for gifted women or some such." She looks over to the pillow Elizabeth is still hiding under as her body writhes under Melissa's concealed hand. "Isn't that right, Miss?" she asks with a grin.
Elizabeth's only response is more groaning.
Melissa shrugs but continues her hidden activities. "I ain't been doin' a whole lot. Miss says I'm supposed to be a lady now, but that still don't feel right. I's even got me a maid o' me own, but it don't feel like anything but ten kinds o' weird."
The motions under the blanket become more frantic and Elizabeth's body stiffens.
"Whenever you'd like, Mister Saleh," a voice speaks out from the other side of the chamber's door. "Breakfast is being served in the dining room."
At that moment Elizabeth releases an ecstatic cry that the pillow muffles not at all. Frantic footsteps recede from the door.
"Other than that," Melissa continues as if nothing else has happened. "We ain't been doin' much." She removes her hand from under the blanket and slips two of her fingers into her mouth. "So when is ya gonna tell us what really happened?" she asks.
"I have got to get some more practise at that." Saleh whispers to Melissa before letting his voice rise slightly. "After breakfast I think. Light and company will make the tale easier. Do you want to slip out?" He asks the redhead, "Unless your maid is already aware..." He trails off before clambering out of bed and looking around the room.
"Hmm... I don't suppose either of you went to my lodgings did you? Otherwise I'm going to need that bedsheet to go to breakfast."
Saleh devours breakfast, doing his best to be polite, but conversation is clearly very low on his list of priorities. It isn't until after he's eaten three peoples worth of breakfast that he finally stops, pushes back his plate and settles in for a tale.
"Some months back, did I tell you about meeting Gregorz? He was a soldier in the company I was... attached to. He said the Captain had sent him, to get knife back and take my fingers with it. Punishment basically, for deserting. I fought Gregorz, although it didn't last long. I used my sword to scare him off and that was the end of it.
Then, when I disappeared, I was out - going to an armorer about a new suit of armor. Something a bit heavier. Well, there were six of them and they threatened you both if I didn't come quietly. I wasn't going to take that chance." He looks somberly between his listeners. "They took me to the river and had me chained to the oars at a galley they had, black sail and a gauntlet in flames. It was the better part of a week until we made it up river and Gregorz took advantage, handed out beatings whenever he could." He makes a vague gesture towards his back. "I'm afraid I've got more scars than ever now. Anyway, the Captain is... something more now. He was always smart, plenty of wealth and lots of books but he seems to have found something dangerous, like the Grimoire we destroyed. He had some sort of... power. Like the necromancer we fought, stronger even perhaps. He's a little king now, has a whole keep, thirty men serving him and a bunch of slaves. He had us digging, trying to find something under the mountain - I don't know what, but he was so set on it he sent me down there to be worked to death, rather than just killing me."
He shrugs. "I don't want to relive it all, but after a couple of weeks I managed to get a bunch of the other slaves, the ones still with fight in them and we jumped the guards with shovels. Then we made it to the armory, took as much as we could and fled. Oh." His teeth bare in a grin. "I set fire to his library as we fled. It was a good distraction and the damn tower was still smoking two days later. Anyway." He lets out a sigh, "It took me a month to make it down-river again. The Captain sent out a lot of men to find me, probably didn't help that this is the second time I've made him look like an idiot. I killed Gregorz in the end, he caught me in an alley. He had an axe, I had the armor. Luckily for me he had some money, not an awful lot but enough for passage. So I got back yesterday and came straight here. I wanted... needed... to see that you were both safe."
He finishes his story, such as it is, with a second longer sigh and slumps in his chair. "So, that's my story, for what it's worth."
"I'll go finds ya some clothes," Melissa says with a smirk. She leans in close and whispers in the man's ear. "And if'n ya got the inclination, m' Miss is quite ... ready. I'll wager you could take her any way ya wanted to right now."
She giggles and gives the man a quick kiss on the cheek before slipping out of the bed. She doesn't even bother with a dressing robe as she exits the room.
When the soldier makes his appearance in the dining room an hour later, dressed in a very expensive doublet and hose, Elizabeth raises an eyebrow and turns to Melissa. "I'm sure there's a perfectly good reason that Mister Saleh is dressed in my father's clothes that has absolutely nothing to do with causing me lifelong trauma?" she asks in a cool voice.
Reva chooses that very moment to enter the room with a tray bearing enough food for half-a-dozen healthy men. "Well, he couldn't very well run around in his alltogethers, now could he?" Melissa responds in a cheeky tone.
The tray slips in Reva's hands, but she manages not to lose control of it.
"I mean it would just give poor Reva the vapors to no end," the red-head continues with a smirk.
~~~~~~
Once Saleh has finished his breakfast and his story, Melissa says nothing, but rises from her seat, her own breakfast ignored, and moves to wrap her arms around the large man's neck.
Elizabeth's face grows paler as Saleh relates his story. By the conclusion, she's gripping her utensils so tightly that her knuckles are white. "You didn't perchance notice the titles of any of the books in the library?" she asks in a quiet voice.
At his negative response, she nods, not really expecting an affirmative answer.
"Well, you're here now and we're all safe and that's all that matters," she says finally. She breathes steadily and slowly relaxes her fingers enough to partake of a token at least of her own breakfast. "Also, since you're back, I was hoping that we discuss the details of our potential engagement."
Saleh gets a rather wolf-like grin and, as Melissa slips out of the bed, his long arm slides across Elizabeth's smooth hip and begins experimenting with the very compliant sorceress...
-----------------------
"Of course." Saleh responds. "You do still want that? I'd understand, after what's happened, if you had had second thoughts." His tone bespeaks genuine uncertainty, as though he can't quite believe that Elizabeth is still going through with a plan which, before they left, had only been discussed in the briefest and most theoretical terms.
And compliant the sorceress is.
~~~~~
"Second thoughts?" Elizabeth questions, looking up from her mostly full plate. "Mister Saleh, there has been and always will be evil and horrible things in this world. In spite of that, life must still move forward. People make ... and break ... agreements. People are born and people die. The only way that one can stay sane in this world is to carry on, however one can."
She looks away.
"If you no longer have any interest in a partnership between us, then please say so plainly. Using these events as an excuse to discontinue our association is an insult to my intelligence."
Saleh gets up to sit in next to Melissa and turn her face back to his. "Elizabeth. You and Melissa have taken me from a vagabond without a copper piece for a roof to a man who fights trolls and necromancers with enchanted blades and armor worth more than thirty men make in a month. You have... have helped me feel things I barely knew, things that I didn't think I'd ever be allowed to feel again. I am luckier than I have ever deserved to have you, to have both of you, in my life. So I'm not saying I want to end this, I'm saying that I don't deserve it and I can't just accept my good fortune, not without giving you a chance to make another choice."
He looks deeply into the sorceresses eyes and then slides out of his seat.
"I had purchased a ring, two in fact." He says, shooting a sideways glance at Melissa before shifting onto one knee. "But well, I don't have them any more. Still, Elizabeth Rose, Lady Adamell. Will you marry me? I don't have much to offer you, I cannot match you for wealth, intellect or magic but I will love you, protect you and help you with all my power, in this world and whatever awaits beyond. If you'll let me."
The words flow out with surprisingly urbanity for Saleh and as Elizabeth gapes Melissa picks up him muttering under his breath.
"Stupid man. That sounded so much better before! Should have just asked."
Elizabeth takes a moment to steady herself, Saleh's declaration catching her completely off guard. "Mister ... " she begins, but then swallows and turns to face the man.
"Saleh. Let me first state that while I appreciate the thought, you own me nothing. You have contributed as much if not more to this ... partnership than I could ever ..." She pauses a moment to keep control of herself. That control tenuous at best at this moment. "And secondly ..." Her voice cracks slightly. "Secondly, I would be a fool to make any other choice." Her voice does break this time and she takes his hand in hers and reaches up with the other to daintily wipe at her eyes. "Do I look like a fool?"
Melissa looks back and forth between the couple, confusion on her face. "So what happened?" she asks. "Was that a real proposal? Did you say yes, Miss?"
She frowns. "Wait. Why did you need two rings? You're not supposed to buy one for yourself, Mister Saleh. Miss is supposed to do that."
Elizabeth looks up at the red-head and shakes her head in frustration. "The second ring is for you, Melissa," she says.
"For ... for me?" Melissa stammers. "You can't mean ... You're supposed to marry m' Miss. How would ...? I mean ..." Her confusion shifts to hurt.
"What? Like I'm just some kinda baggage to go along? Not even a proper proposal or nothing?" Her tone turns haughty. "Oh, yeah, since Miss said 'Yes', Melissa ain't got much choice, does she? She don't got no life anyways."
With a furl of red hair, she stomps over and through the dining room door, slamming it closed behind her.
Elizabeth flinches at the sound of the door.
"I do not believe your intention was to hurt Melissa's feelings, but I can't help but think that perhaps you would have been best off speaking to her first."
She reaches out to turn Saleh's face to look back at her.
"To be clear; As I've stated before, I have no issues with sharing you with Melissa in whatever manner as is mutually beneficial for all of us. If you'd like the assurity of marriage to both of us, I would have no complaints. I believe that Melissa would be happy with that arrangement as well. However, I think it would need to be presented in a manner that doesn't represent her as secondary."
She leans in close and touches her lips to his lightly.
"And I also believe that you would need to be the one to talk to her about it."
Saleh nods slowly. "That can be done?" He asks, "I thought it was one man and one woman, at least for the New God..." He shakes his head briefly. "It doesn't matter though. I would have you both, if you'll both have me." He leans forward and brushes his lips across Elizabeth's before standing and heading for the door.
A brief interrogation of Reva, who is hanging around the door in a most unnecessary manner, gives Saleh his direction and he follows down to the cellar where he finds Melissa, a rack of practise weapons and three wooden training dummies.
After a brief pause he knocks on the dooframe. "Permission to enter?"
"Oh, now you wanna ask me something?" the woman says as she looks over the weapons and the dummies, purposefully not facing the door. She reaches up and wipes at her face.
A few steps behind him, Elizabeth nods her head in Melissa's direction.
"I'd like to speak to you." Saleh replies, entering the room and stripping off his doublet and hanging it on one of the weapon racks. "But this might be better first."
He takes two weapons, hefts them both and then offers one, hilt first to Melissa before taking up a guard position with the wooden blade in his left hand.
"Is there anything you want to say to me?"
"Yes, I'm mad at you," she says, stepping forward and swinging the practice sword in a clumsy manner which Saleh easily blocks. "You know I love ... Miss. And I'm happy ..." she strikes again, her attack telegraphed, "... that you wants to marry her. But that don't mean that you get ..." she throws the sword aside to grab a shorter wooden blade, "... to assume that I'm just part an' parcel of her package." Her attack is more skilled this time and takes more effort for the soldier to block it. "I gots feelings too, Mister Saleh. And I expect the man I marry to make my feelings count."
She takes a step back, her chest heaving with the effort and angry tears glimmering in her mismatched eyes.
"I'm sorry." Saleh says simply, focused on the wooden swords. "If I had been able to do this the way I wanted to... I would have asked you first. You were first Melissa, you were my first and without you..." He pauses as Melissa feints, before blocking her blow with his bare forearm. Despite the crack of weighted wood on flesh the warrior doesn't even flinch.
"Without you then Elizabeth and I would not be together. I would never dream of just assuming that you are part of the package." He grins and suddenly steps onto the offensive, lashing Melissa's blade aside and closing sharply.
"You are your own person Melissa, your very own, wonderful person. Any man would be lucky to wed you and I'd like to think..." He tosses the blade aside. "That I might just be that lucky?" While he is making a point of showing his seriousness Saleh isn't quite brave/foolish enough to go down on one knee while Melissa still has a weighted blade in hand...
Melissa's weapon lowers and the angry tears begin to brim over. "Y-you were gonna ask me first?" she says, her lip beginning to quiver. Oh, Mister Saleh," she says. She steps closer as well and looks up at the large man, "Why didn't ...?" Her weapon falls to the floor, forgotten. She wraps her arms around him and leans her head into his chest. He can feel her relax against him, but a moment later she tenses up and pulls away.
"It won't work, though. Not like you wants it to be. She don't love me like that, Mister Saleh and I don't wanna feel like I'm in the way."
"You really are a foolish girl," Elizabeth declares stepping through the doorway.
Melissa starts and turns to face her, backing up against Saleh's chest. "Miss, I didn't ..."
"Yes, I know you didn't know I was there," Elizabeth says approaching languidly. "There are a lot of things about me that it might surprise you that you don't know."
She stops a half-step away from the red-headed former maidservant.
"For example, I hate olives and yet you continue to insist on adding them to almost anything you prepare."
Melissa attempts to stammer a response, but Elizabeth holds up a finger. "And another example ..." She begins to lean in slowly and Melissa head begins to move back. At least until it encounters the immovable force that is Saleh's chest. The sorceress continues her forward motion and presses her lips against Melissa's. The effort is one sided for just an instant before Melissa presses back in earnest. Their lips slide against each for a seeming eternity before Elizabeth finally pulls away.
She licks her lips and looks over Melissa with dark, hungry eyes. "Mister Saleh, I plan to retire to my chambers for the rest of the day," she says, her eyes remaining fixed on Melissa. "If you desire my participation in any further ... discussions ... you'll be able to find me there. Sorry for interrupting."
With an air of complete control, she then turns and exits the room.
Melissa's head falls back against Saleh's chest.
Saleh's mighty arms hold Melissa absolutely still, giving her no further room to back away as Elizabeth kisses her. As the sorceress leaves Saleh inclines his head without saying anything until she has left the room before he starts to laugh, hearty belly laughs that fill the cellar.
"Well..." He manages once he finally catches his breath. "I think you're wrong..."
He meanwhile appears to be delighted that that is the case... and Melissa attempting to wriggle out of his arms hasn't helped matters at all.
Realizing that she's not escaping the large man's arms, Melissa contents herself with turning to face him. She glances up at his face and then looks away.
"So, um, Mister Saleh. Was there something that, uh, you'd like to officially ask me?" the woman asks, trying to hide the grin that threatens to split her face wide open.
"And if you're quick about it, we might just be able to catch Miss a'fore she gets into her wine," she says in a smaller voice.
"Melissa Daylenne." Saleh says, releasing Melissa to slide down onto one knee in front of her. "From the first day I've admired you. Your joy, your enthusiasm. The way you cracked a lamp over the zombies head. I knew you were a thief immediately because you stole my heart and I would be honoured if you would marry me?"
At her response Saleh grins hugely and then sweeps Melissa off the ground entirely. "I think this deserves a celebration!" He says leaning down to steal a kiss before marching back upstairs with his squirming red-headed bundle, heading for Elizabeth's study.
A wide grin and tears follow Saleh's proposal as the red-head hops in place, clapping her hands.
When she's literally swept off her feet she lets out a small shriek and then laughs as she gives the man directions to her Mistress' bedchambers. "When she said her 'quarters', she was talking 'bout her bedroom," she whispers quietly to the man as her teeth find his ear and begin to nibble.
Arriving at Elizabeth's bedroom door, Melissa - still in Saleh's arms - reaches out and softly taps on the portal.
"Enter," is the muted response.
Stepping inside the comfortable room, the couple find it lit with muted magical light and the sole resident relaxing languidly on the bed in her loose dressing gown. A book in her lap and a glass of white wine in her hand.
"Unless you're planning on dusting, I would recommend closing and locking the door behind you," Elizabeth says without looking up from her book. "The servants gossip enough without giving them a show to go along with it." She finally looks up. "Assuming, of course, that you're here for carnal purposes?" Her casual tone is belied by the flush visible on her face and partially exposed chest. It could be the result of the wine, but the nearby bottle is mostly full along with the glass in her hand.
"Oh, Miss," Melissa says in a sultry voice. She drops down from Saleh's arms and takes slow steps towards the dark-haired woman. "I have so many carnal plans for ya."
Elizabeth visibly swallows. "O-oh, really?" she responds attempting to maintain her cool demeanor, but the hand holding the glass of wine begins to shake. Melissa nods slowly as she reaches out to take the glass from Elizabeth's hand. She downs the contents in one swallow. "Oh really. Isn't that right, Mister Saleh?"
"I can attest as to how... inventive she can be." Saleh confirms, speaking to Elizabeth rather than Melissa. He hasn't bothered to replace the doublet, which is still in the cellar, so putting Melissa down exposes his muscular torso. The hose Melissa provided are a little too small, so his legs and lower body are also prominently outlined - particularly his sword which is straining its cloth sheath.
Getting out of the hose proves difficult however and in the process he exposes his back, which shows clear evidence of the beatings he referenced at breakfast - a wide variety of scars crisscrossing his back in various states of healing.
His enthusiasm is undimmed however as he climbs onto the bed behind Melissa and runs one large hand up Elizabeth's leg, while the other one tugs at Melissa's blouse.
Melissa reaches up and wraps her hand in Saleh's hand that's pulling at her top. She pulls the hand up and places and soft kiss on it, subtly stopping him from removing her top.
Setting the empty wine glass on the nearby side table, she moves up closer to Elizabeth. With her free hand, she reaches up and brushes the back of her hand against Elizabeth's cheek.
"There are so many things that I want to do with you and to you, Miss," she says in a soft voice. "But I don't ever want to do something that you're not comfortable with. So if you're doin' any of this just to make me happy ... please don't."