71 The Wild InsideQuick note: This will cross timelines in the one chapter, much like it used to at the start.
Elise sat still, watching the fire dance before her eyes as her lover pressed a warm, wet cloth against the deep cuts on her shoulders. The sting of it was a continuous throb against her awareness, pulling her away from her deep thoughts whenever the cloth scrapped damaged flesh too hard.
She flinched which always produced an apology from Nessa.
"This one will need stitching, my love." Her breathy whispers pitched so as not to wake the child in his cot.
Elise looked upon the Dalish at her side. She was dark where Amara was fair, her hair made of the colours of light wood where Amara's was dark as night. Perhaps the most striking difference of all was the colour of her eyes; green as the moss along the river banks where her past love's were the colour of the flames before them. Both women were breathtakingly beautiful and both were so different apart from their protective natures. Seeing Amara again let her see Nessa in a whole new light.
"Elise?" The soft murmur from those blushed lips that always seem to cling with honey in the firelight, caught her attention once more. Elise shook her head as if to rattle loose thoughts from the past.
"Ma Vhenan, I'm sorry." Elise took hold of Nessa's hand and gripped them with her fingers as to anchor herself. She looked up with softened eyes. "It has been a trying few days."
"I can understand, Keeper." The smooth skin furrowed suddenly on Nessa's brow. "You've been, drifting off somewhere else since you've been back." Nessa squeezed the bloodied cloth over the bowl of steeping herbs. "To another time, another heart… perhaps." Her words lost their strength and her jaw set firmly against saying more words.
"Nessa –" Elise began, but her lover sharply shaking her head warned her to stop. Those emerald eyes softened with hurt and it gripped the Keeper's heart with dread and guilt.
"You were mated to her." Nessa sighed with resignation. "She will come back and claim you once more. I know this, I always have." Her throat closed up with those thickened words. She stared at the water in the wooden bowl willing her heart to slow and begging her tears to hold. The Keeper's hands covered her own, setting aside the vessel on the ground.
"I have told her of you—of us." Elise's heart thundered. This had occupied her thoughts in the many days it took to get back to her clan. Always clarity had eluded her till now. "When she comes back, it will not be for me." It was like a blade pulling out of her side. It hurt, but not as much as it did when it went in. "We do not belong to each other anymore, Amara and I." Softly she held her lover's face in her hands, meeting her intent gaze. "I belong to—"
Their lips met in a fiery kiss, hungry from days apart, fierce from claiming each other anew. Nessa pulled her hard on top of her crossed legs and their bodies melded together amidst the tearing of cloth and a tangle of eager hands. Soft gasping moans remained low through the night, mindful of sleeping ears.
OoOoO
Amber eyes blazed with fire that could char any man to the bone. The guards before her shifted their weight as they looked ahead with stony eyes that barely hid their apprehension. The Captain stalked between them to survey the cell of steel and stone. Another body lay slumped in the corner—the third prisoner they had lost within the walls of their own prison. Three guard rotations a day ensured this prisoner was never out of sight and yet he laid there with empty eyes staring at the darkness of the cell. No one visited and no one came or went other than the guards themselves.
Every attack on emissaries between the Dalish clan and Highever manor had produced a prisoner to interrogate and each one had met a grisly end with no witnesses. This frustrated Amara beyond words and poisoned the trust she had in their own people.
"This is unacceptable!" She threw the rings of steel keys against the chamber walls with such force, it mangled several. With nothing else to direct her anger towards, Amara grabbed the closest guard by the edges of his chest plate an hoisted him off the ground and against the bars. Livid eyes roared to life like a stoked flame. "You mean to say between the three of you, not one saw how this prisoner was killed and who in the Maker's name, killed him?!" The terrified man wildly shook his head.
"Captain! That is enough!" Caleb's stern tone bellowed across the hall. "Amara!"
Amara let out a growl that reverberated against stone. Roughly she set the guard down and paced towards the dead man on the ground.
"You are dismissed, all of you. Report to your superiors for debriefing." Caleb tersely ordered the frightened unit away. Out of sight from them he laid a hand on his sister's shoulder. "Amara, what's gotten into you?"
Amara gripped the bars hard with her hand, twisting them and feeling the steel giving. "I don't know, brother. I'm losing my temper more and more and the anger does not abate easily."
"I can see that part." Caleb bent over and picked up the keys, frowning at the bent pins and buckled bits that hit the wall. "This is something more." Caleb sighed. "I have seen you in battle against several foes. No matter how hard they hit, you do not lose control like you have today."
Amara's eyes shot Caleb an indignant look. Her heart raced as the blood beneath her skin began to boil. "Do you not see? We are being attacked. Someone wants this treaty to fail and someone is weakening us with every witness they kill." Amara kicked over the stool and paced madly about the cell like a trapped animal. "They have us chasing our tails!" She held her sides hard, hoping for the anger to pass.
Caleb nodded almost dismissively as he looked about the cell. "Three prisoners, no witnesses." He stared at the prone body on the ground.
"Only the guards have access to them." Amara's mouth set in a grim line. "If it is one of them then we are in more trouble than we know."
"Each one of our guards will fight to their last breath to defend this place - you and I both know that." Caleb was quick to defend but he couldn't help the unease that stole over his heart.
"Then who else?" Amara's mind worked to keep her frustrations from distracting her thoughts. She crouched on the ground inspecting the man's body. "No wounds like the others, no bruising. Nothing in the cell out of place." She let out a pent breath and looked up at her brother.
"They were fed from the same table as us." Caleb toed the wooden bowl smeared with the man's last meal.
Amara looked across at it, before immediately finding the large trough of water, against the wall. "Not the same water though."
Together they walked to the vessel in question, heads bent over it.
"Poison, then." Caleb surmised almost sure of how the prisoners had been killed. "It could be anyone from within or without the manor."
Amara looked about for any other clues that would point towards the poison's delivery. The barred vent above did not directly align with the container, but it was close.
"Close enough." Caleb uttered as if reading his sister's mind.
"It would need to be heavy enough to direct." Amara dipped her hand in, sinking down to past her elbow, swirling it about and feeling for anything in the water. "Got it."
She pulled out her hand careful not to get any water dripping on anything else. Her fingers grasped a waterlogged bundle of wrap cinched tightly with twine. Carefully she unwrapped it to study the contents inside. The sludge of grounded fibrous roots came apart in her fingers. She went to take a closer look when Caleb's hand grabbed her wrist.
"Deathroot." He shook the parcel from Amara's lax grip. "You need to get cleaned up, Sister."
Amara swallowed and nodded shakily. Briskly she marched out of the cells and headed to the furthest and strongest stream from the manor gates and washed the filmy residue that coated her fingers. When she was sure she had gotten every trace of the poison from her hands, she came back to the keep to see the body being taken away to be prepared for its final journey. Just like the others, no known kin was ever found to inform them of the deceased and none ever came forward. She grimaced as frustration tore at her self control. The culprit could be anyone and could strike from anywhere. They were blind, so blind and the only clue they had was a wad of poison too deadly to examine further. She kicked a bucket hard, making fly across the courtyard to the alarm of chamber maids as Amara stormed to her own quarters to find a way to quiet her heart.
Alone in her quarters she paced about some more, the beating of her heart almost erratic and pounded in her ears. For a brief moment she panicked thinking that the Deathroot has somehow taken hold of her and it took every bit of self control to calm her fears. She stopped her pacing and sat down on the covered floor, folding her legs beneath her. She closed her eyes and thought of the one thing that mattered most to her. Elise. Her wife looking down at her as Amara laid on her lap. Beyond that beautiful face the light dappled through the leaves of their tree. An ancient oak they rested under often as their day of duties came to a close. It was the quiet place they inhabited, the cove they rested in at dusk before entering a night of passion that would see them into exhausted sleep. The thudding in Amara's ears finally abated and thoughts came clearly once more. They had been separated for over two weeks, as duties to her house took precedence to her duties to her clan - a balancing act she excelled at. With a deep breath she reminded herself that she would see Elise by mid afternoon on the morrow. She put aside the anger and emerged from her quarters a different person. Her steps lead her down the long corridor to the main all where her father and brother discussed the recent death in their custody.
"Each one is the same downtrodden man, out of luck with nothing more to lose, a fist full of coin in their pocket and a sword that's barely seen service." Caleb was rubbing his stubbly chin as he sat by their father's side.
"But they did lose more, brother." Amara's voice rang oddly calm to her own ears. She wondered if it had been so long since she had felt calm and reasonable. The perplexing thought crinkled her brow. She sat on the seat that her father gesture at. "They lost their lives, on our watch. Three. And we are no closer to finding who is behind these attacks."
"From today we at least know how they've been dying. We were the only ones in the cell when you discovered the Deathroot. As far as they know, we are still scratching our heads." Caleb took a sip from his goblet before he continued. "The next prisoner we take in can be used to root out the culprit behind the poisonings."
"There are no shortage of attacks." Amara pushed away the goblet before her, suddenly not wanting the bitter sweet liquid.
A heavy sigh escaped from her brother's lips. "The next likely attack will be Elise's convoy tomorrow, you are aware of that." The room grew silent for a long moment. "That could be our only advantage at this point." Caleb continued.
"You want to use my wife as bait?" the low tone in Amara's voice belied the anger in her veins.
"We already know that is the likeliest opportunity for attack, Sister." Caleb drew a hand up defensively. "I merely want to be prepared for it. I assure you no one will get near her."
"Maker help anyone who lays a hand on her." Fierce amber eyes glowed like coal. Caleb drew an audible breath that snapped Amara from the red haze that fogged her. She found surprise and real concern on her brother's face. Amara stood up quickly almost tipping over her chair if not for her father's quick hand. She excused herself in a babble of distracted apologies and strode back to her quarters.
Caleb watched his sister go, his worry almost overwhelming. He had to take a slow centering breath. There was much to do, between the breaches in security, the Keeper's arrival and Amara's eighteenth naming day celebrations on the morrow's eve. He wondered if he could keep every promise he made.
She woke, early in the morning, her sheets discarded in a twisted pile next to her. Her nightshirt had likewise been strewn and banished to the far end of the bed. A film of sweat was cooling on her skin, as she looked down at her own breasts. She was naked to the waist though had she been successful her trousers would have met the same fate. Everything was so much louder today, the hammering in the hall as festive boughs were nailed to the rafters. The smell of beaten herbs that scented the morning laundry was suddenly pervasive. Folks laughed or talked a little too loud outside her chambers. It was all suddenly maddening and she turned about in her bed like a cornered dog, expecting attack from multiple assailants.
She growled. It was unlike any growl she had ever heard that she stopped immediately. Her hand flew to her throat, feeling for where the noise came from. Amber eyes darted from side to side as her mind raced. They caught a glimpse of her forearms. Her veins protruded more than usual along her muscles and they were dark, almost blue—no nearly black. Amama jumped up from the bed at alarming speed and pawed at her skin in front of the looking glass. She turned about. Feint lines of blue webbed across her skin. It was Vallaslin but there was no moonlight there to show it and it was different to her own. It overlaid the familiar lines she knew were hidden there.
"What in the Maker?!" Amama's voice echoed strangely.
'Wrong god.' A joyful laughter in her mind answered followed by a short muted howl.
Amara tuned about, absolutely she sure someone was behind her. With no one there, she was convinced it was indeed the Deathroot or she was simply going mad.
"Captain!" Gauntleted fist beat against her door.
"A moment" She growled then cast about for her nightshirt quickly pulling them on and rolling down the sleeves to her wrists. "Yes."
"Trouble Captain." Nathan's voice shook. "At the border, with the Keeper's convoy."
The Captain burst out of her room, nearly knocking the young soldier over as she swung open the door. She had her leather pants on with a thin linen shirt. Her blade hung from her hips has she ran to the stables. Without a backward glance she shouted the order to have the men follow her to the border immediately. She rode her steed out the gates like hordes of demons had torn through the Fade and she alone could stop them.
She galloped the flat plains at full speed knowing her horse could get the rest once they entered forested grounds that neared the border of Highever and Dalish lands. Her heart hammered hard with each beat of the horse's hooves on the field. Anger in her rose like a bonfire, unfettered, roaring for the fight ahead. She would kill anyone one trying to lay a hand on her wife and nothing would stop her. Dalish and human voices grew louder as her steed navigated the jagged boulders and fallen logs that lay in their way. She was close and she nudged her beast for a quick canter through the trodden path.
The scene unfolded before her as she rounded the last bend. Dalish with their backs to each other formed a protective circle around the weaker and older members of the tribe. Elise in her leaf patterned woven leathers headed the front where the fighting was thick. Her hands glowed with each blow she dealt with her staff. Her braided hair spun with her as she twirled and rounded on two assailants. One got his jaw cracked while the other narrowly ducked under the coming blow. Amara saw red and launched herself from the seat of her mount landing heavily against the man confronting her wife. She grabbed him by the leather tunic and hoisted him up in the air with a deafening roar. He cried out, eyes going wide as he was flung against a thick trunk. He didn't move again. Amara dove into the fray pummeling, kicking and biting anyone she got her hands on. She was a storm come down from above to lay waste. Men screamed clutching stumps and broken limbs. They quickly lost their courage at the sight of such force and began to scatter. Amara was not done, though. She ran after them howling with joy from the hunt. Somewhere, seemingly further away now, she barely heard Elise desperately calling her back.
Louder was the laughter in the corner of her mind and louder still was her own howl as she raced like a grey blur in the forest. Well muscled, strong and wild.
OoOoO
A/N: It's been a long while since I completed a chapter. Thanks for still reading for following this story despite the lack of updates. It is very appreciated. I will continue thinking up new chapters but as they have been, they can take a while to post. Thanks again! I hope you enjoy. Also I recently passed a view milestone that I didn't think I would ever get so this one is also to celebrate that and to show my appreciation.