Blaire

The tales had transitioned into those of lovers, good and bad and truly awful. After tying up a particularly sordid tale that had Lowri flushed to the tips of her ears, Kali turned to their youngest member with a mischievous gleam in her dark brown eyes, the flicker of the fire reflecting in them made her appear even more impish than usual.

“What about you, child? Do you like men or women?”

“I… I am not certain yet,” Lowri answered with innocent honesty.

“Understandable, given that you are still very young,” Blaire assured her.

Lowri looked down into the flames for a few minutes before replying, “Girls in the village on the hill outside our farm were married and pregnant by their eighteenth year.”

“How awful for them,” said Kali with what could have been perceived as genuine pity. But with Kali, Blaire had learned not to assume anything.

Instead of answering the blonde, she turned back to their youngest member and said, “Lowri, they are married so young by their families for financial gain and lineage security.”

Kali added, perhaps not helpfully, “And their entire lives become dedicated to small mucus-oozing creatures, until those creatures grow old enough that they do not need their mother, and then what do those women have?”

“A husband,” said Lowri.

“Exactly. What a horrifying thought.”

Blaire kept her focus on Lowri as she continued slowly, “It is not odd to crave love from another person, though.”

Kali could not be ignored, however. “And thankfully there is a cure,” she announced cheerfully.

“There is?” Lowri asked dejectedly.

“Of course, that is what whorehouses are for.”

“Kali!” Blaire gasped, finally turning to give the young woman a stern, scolding look.

Kali chuckled to herself. “You do not expect me to believe you have never lain with a woman you met that very day?”

“I have never paid for sex,” said Blaire stiffly.

“Have you ever been paid?”

“Have you?”

“Never in coinage, but I have received a few rather expensive trinkets after a particularly intense night of passion,” Kali boasted with an awfully salacious grin.

Lowri, who had been bouncing her dark eyes back and forth between them as they bickered, took the break in the verbal battle to ask quietly, “Have you ever… um, with a man?”

A twist pulled Blaire’s lips into a smile that she truly tried to fight off. “If you cannot speak the word you are certainly not old enough for sex,” she advised gently. Despite having reached the age of adulthood, Lowri had a youthful sweetness and innocence that Blaire desperately wished to protect for as long as was possible. There was nothing wrong with being a late bloomer, and she wanted Lowri to feel secure in lowering her petals when she was truly ready.

Kali said, “I have. Blaire? Have you been with a man?”

“No,” said Blaire.

“What was it like?” Lowri leant forward towards the heat of the flames, as though worried she would miss Kali’s answer.

“Mediocre,” Kali said to Lowri. “You have not missed anything,” she added to Blaire with a wink.

“How do I know if I like them?” It was unclear who Lowri was seeking an answer from, but Kali managed to find a response before Blaire had time to jump in first.

“Men?” She snorted a short laugh out at the mere thought of the opposite sex. “Well, if you would like my advice, I would assume you do not. At least not until the small voice between your legs tells you otherwise. There is no reason for you to waste your time with them unless you are sure.”

“Lowri,” Blaire said firmly, stealing her attention back. “You can experiment all you like. It is not a waste of time to learn about yourself.”

“Now that I can agree with, learn about your own body before you allow any other person to touch it.”

With a few blinks and the opening and closing of her mouth several times, Lowri finally answered, “I… I think I understand.”

“She is implying self-pleasure, Lowri,” explained Blaire.

“Oh.”

“In the privacy of your tent, of course,” Kali advised.

“Well, I do not-”

Kali was not finished with her counsel yet. “But best not start tonight as this conversation will have put us on high alert to any strange sounds in the night.” From her brightly lit face, Blaire could tell she had enjoyed this conversation far too much.

“Right. Yep. Thank you.” Lowri sounded breathless in her response and for a moment Blaire was concerned she may be going into shock. “Sh-shall we go pray?” she asked squeakily. Kali cackled as she stood and waved their youngest warrior away with her.

Lowri bid Blaire a good night over her shoulder. Blaire nodded them off with a worried smile.

She was not sure if she felt comfortable to be left with her own thoughts sat beside the fire. After the topic of lovers, she feared it may bring about foolish action from her.

Kali’s words from within the damp tunnel of the mine had been ringing in Blaire’s mind since the moment she had tasted the clean air of the outside world again. Would confessing to Magali be beneficial in any way? What was the worst that could happen? What was she hoping to gain? A mild buzzing sensation had settled at the base of her neck, increasing in intensity when she thought too hard about Magali, or came into close quarters with her… or looked at her from afar.

What attracted Blaire to the slim mage was unclear still even to her. They had very few similarities. If anything, she represented every luxury that Blaire had grown up without. Blessed with a level of education that Blaire couldn’t have fathomed as a child. Strutting about in her fine clothes that billowed behind her while Blaire dressed in plain, banded mail armour. She moved with a confidence that gave her additional height, an aura shimmering about her that smelled of wealth. The way she spoke was sharp and impatient; Magali had no time for those she interpreted as being beneath her. But her intelligence drew Blaire in, it was fascinating that one person could hold so much knowledge in one small head, that she could be so certain of so many things. Magali had nothing in common with Blaire, she had nothing in common with anyone Blaire had courted or lain with, and yet she had had Blaire enraptured for moons. She was a strange being that had Blaire’s attention tied to her like the lead rope of a pony.

Of course, her beauty helped. Delicate features pressing through thin skin that resembled the film atop cream, curving lips with a deep cupid’s bow and inky black hair chopped messily - her only physical imperfection, but it fit her well in that it had clearly been cut that way deliberately. Everything Magali did was with deliberation.

Her eyes, a black so deep and dark it sucked you in, appraised her in her approach. When had she risen from her seat beside the fire? When had she begun to walk towards Magali? Blaire did not know. Suddenly, she was getting closer and Blaire realised she must find something to comment on or announce soon or Magali may think she had gone strange.

Once there was but a few feet between them, Magali opened the conversation for her. “Is something amiss? You have a strange look on your face.”

Blaire blurted, “I have feelings for you.”

Magali’s robes fluttered in the soft breeze but the body beneath them did not move. For an agonisingly long time, her mouth did not move either.

Eventually, she asked in a low tone, “are these feelings… familial?”

“Romantic.” Blaire exhaled the word so softly it could have been mistaken for a sigh.

“What are you hoping to gain from this? What are your intentions?”

“I… do not know.”

“Then I can not be expected to give you a response to this declaration.” She walked away stiffly, her lips pinched together, draining the last ebb of colour from her face.

The entire encounter was over so quickly that Blaire felt too shaken to put one foot in front of the other until the air had grown uncomfortably crisp and she found herself shivering beneath her light armour. She ambled back to her tent with mouth open and eyes half-lidded. She did not sleep for the duration of their final night in the clearing.

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In the earliest hours of the morning, their camp was packed in near silence aside from Kali’s occasional jests or crude jokes. There was a tension pulsing between the women that Blaire was far too distracted to hone in on and dissect. At the very least, she could tell it was not only she and Magali who were not acting themselves. They did not speak a word to each other that morning. Blaire knew not what to say and she could only assume that Magali felt there was nothing more to be said.

Matilde, Kali and Dani rode away first as the orange sky gave way to blue hues again. Farewells had been short and almost formal. Only Kali gave any physical affection before departure: a rough one-armed hug for Lowri, a hip-bump for Magali (which earned her a scowl), a two-handed shake for Eudora, and a chaste kiss on the cheek for Blaire (followed by wink as she retreated to her horse). They had their own contract to fulfil, one they had been on their way to begin when they had become entangled with Eudora and Co. It was not time-sensitive though, they had been tasked with culling the bear population on the border of the North and West regions and delivering the pelts to Rose Blood Castle, the royal base seated amid the torrential rain of the North.

Occasionally, the horrendous rainstorms that hovered permanently over the North of Elatior spread to the top of the West region, causing mud slides within the mountainous terrain. How lucky they had been to have had a contract send them to one of the many vulnerable mines in the area when the latest storm had hit. Blaire had thought Magali overly suspicious when they were trapped in the depths of Silver Night mine, but since escaping and reviewing their time in the dark and dank tunnels, she had found herself too convinced that something was amiss. The mercenaries that had paid them an early-morning visit had tripled that feeling of unease.

Eudora led them from the clearing and back to the wide dirt road silently. They had decided to take the simple route back to Marius at Emerald Heart Keep. Blaire could sense Eudora was already rehearsing in her mind how she would explain the disaster to him. If they lost his trust in their competency, they would not get the highly paid kingdom-issued contracts offered to them, at least not until they had proven themselves capable again. Eudora had a modest-sized but reliable reputation. As their leader she would be the one to take the blame for the incident which had occurred. Not that Blaire felt they were truly in any way responsible for the collapse of Silver Night mine. Had they not dug their way out, their remains would have sunk into the dirt in that dank pit never to be found. Blaire hoped Eudora would be able to recount their experience in a way that made that clear for the steward.

They gave her plenty of quiet riding time to mull over her script.