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Cinnamon Swirl #17. Spilt Milk with Hot Fudge and Malt
Story : knights & necromancers
Rating : PG
Timeframe : 1260 following Telltale Signs
Word Count : 921
Malt Prompt : Stocking Gift from Falootin - "Luck is a mighty queer thing. All you know about it for certain is that it's bound to change."
“Sethan!” Reida slammed open the door to his room. “You need to learn to control your women.”
He was at the desk, just as she’d expected him to be, nose in a book, a bit of bread set beside it for dinner. He’d taken to avoiding the dining hall lately. Every moment he wasn’t with Berwyk or with Shasa he was scouring every history he could find for signs of the gateway. If he’d been there tonight, there might have been blood, or he might have averted the whole mess.
She gave the desk a kick in the leg. Sethan‘s book shook, the pages fluttering up and quickly settling back down. Turning his head, he cocked one dark brow at her. “You’ve finally done it,” she said, and she swallowed the urge to kick him as she had the desk. “Your little whore is pregnant.” She paused, waiting for the self congratulatory remark, the sigh of relief that he wouldn’t have to touch the bitch again, but Sethan just kept watching her. He slid a scrap of paper into his book to mark his place and quietly shut it.
“And?” he said at last.
“And a fat lot of good it does you.“ She kicked the desk again and it wasn’t half as satisfying as it should have been, so she stepped away and started pacing across the room. “Half the people in the dining hall got front row seats.”
“To what?” He was at attention now, his hand gripped the back of his chair as he turned to stare.
Reida kept at her pacing. “She had a fit,” she said, “right there in the serving line. Whose brilliant idea was it that she stop taking her medication?”
“She stopped taking…the idiot!” There was a scrape as he left his chair. Reida didn’t bother turning his way.
She scrunched her face and raised her voice to a squeak. “I don’t want to hurt the baby!” she wailed, with a hand to her middle. “Kairn near had a fit too at that from what I hear.”
Sethan caught her by the elbow and turned her around. “Where is she now?”
Reida shrugged, and he dropped her arm. “Her room,” she said. “I got her medicine straightened out. But Kinu was there, Sethan, and Dal. They’ve both seen you helping her with her talent.” The word made her want to spit. “It’s not going to take either of them long to put together what you two were really doing. I give you two days before Berwyk has her skull on a shelf. It won’t take him too much trouble to empty it at least.”
Sethan spun away muttering viciously about the girl and her complete lack of sense.
Reida leaned back against the wardrobe and folded her arms. “While I couldn’t agree more, that’s not exactly helpful right now. You know, if you would have taken me up on my offer in the first place…”
Sethan cut her short with a glare. She met it with a pearly grin. He knew she was right. She waited for him to spout the usual pathetic excuse, that she was too good for his bed. Instead, he broke the stare first, ducking his head as he turned away. “Well, I didn’t, so that’s not terribly helpful at the moment either.”
Silently drumming her fingers on her arm, Reida watched him as he seated himself on the edge of Kairn’s bed and stared at the floor between his feet. He shook his head a few times, made a few odd gestures with his hands between his knees as if the whole thing were mapped in the air in front of him. Reida cleared her throat, and Sethan shot her a dark look.
“So, what’s the plan?” she said.
“Well,” said Sethan, “I had thought to get her out of here quietly, but it seems that’s no longer an option, is it?”
“Nope,” she said cheerfully. “Kairn’s screaming for your blood, and soon Berwyk will be screaming for hers.”
“And you’re enjoying this entirely too much.”
Reida sniffed. “Nothing I’d like to see more than the whore’s head on a shelf.”
“She is carrying the key, you realize.”
Reida shook her head. “I have a plan, see?” She plopped down on the bed beside him and threw an arm across his shoulders before he could edge away. She leaned in with a conspiratorial tone and a none too subtle view of the tops of her breasts. “We scrap this one. It was a good effort and all, but time to try again.” He shifted beside her, peeling his side from hers. She squeezed his shoulder, pulling him in as she leaned back to gesture. “Why, there’s even a bed right here. How convenient is that?”
Sethan pried her fingers from his shoulder. “I’m not sure it works that way,” he said, dropping her hand into her own lap. “For all we know the gods are already hung up on this one.”
“Spoilsport.” Reida scowled at him as he slid a good foot away from her.
“I already have a backup plan.” That crooked half-smile of his slid across his lips, and it was Reida’s turn to raise a brow.
“Oh?”
“It’s in Kairn’s hands now.”
“You’re going to tell him?” she said, scrabbling to think of any possibility that made the least bit of sense.
“Of course not.”
“Well, what then?”
“We are…simply going to appeal to his decency by doing what you do best.”
“Oh?”
“Scaring him.”
Story : knights & necromancers
Rating : PG
Timeframe : 1260 following Telltale Signs
Word Count : 921
Malt Prompt : Stocking Gift from Falootin - "Luck is a mighty queer thing. All you know about it for certain is that it's bound to change."
“Sethan!” Reida slammed open the door to his room. “You need to learn to control your women.”
He was at the desk, just as she’d expected him to be, nose in a book, a bit of bread set beside it for dinner. He’d taken to avoiding the dining hall lately. Every moment he wasn’t with Berwyk or with Shasa he was scouring every history he could find for signs of the gateway. If he’d been there tonight, there might have been blood, or he might have averted the whole mess.
She gave the desk a kick in the leg. Sethan‘s book shook, the pages fluttering up and quickly settling back down. Turning his head, he cocked one dark brow at her. “You’ve finally done it,” she said, and she swallowed the urge to kick him as she had the desk. “Your little whore is pregnant.” She paused, waiting for the self congratulatory remark, the sigh of relief that he wouldn’t have to touch the bitch again, but Sethan just kept watching her. He slid a scrap of paper into his book to mark his place and quietly shut it.
“And?” he said at last.
“And a fat lot of good it does you.“ She kicked the desk again and it wasn’t half as satisfying as it should have been, so she stepped away and started pacing across the room. “Half the people in the dining hall got front row seats.”
“To what?” He was at attention now, his hand gripped the back of his chair as he turned to stare.
Reida kept at her pacing. “She had a fit,” she said, “right there in the serving line. Whose brilliant idea was it that she stop taking her medication?”
“She stopped taking…the idiot!” There was a scrape as he left his chair. Reida didn’t bother turning his way.
She scrunched her face and raised her voice to a squeak. “I don’t want to hurt the baby!” she wailed, with a hand to her middle. “Kairn near had a fit too at that from what I hear.”
Sethan caught her by the elbow and turned her around. “Where is she now?”
Reida shrugged, and he dropped her arm. “Her room,” she said. “I got her medicine straightened out. But Kinu was there, Sethan, and Dal. They’ve both seen you helping her with her talent.” The word made her want to spit. “It’s not going to take either of them long to put together what you two were really doing. I give you two days before Berwyk has her skull on a shelf. It won’t take him too much trouble to empty it at least.”
Sethan spun away muttering viciously about the girl and her complete lack of sense.
Reida leaned back against the wardrobe and folded her arms. “While I couldn’t agree more, that’s not exactly helpful right now. You know, if you would have taken me up on my offer in the first place…”
Sethan cut her short with a glare. She met it with a pearly grin. He knew she was right. She waited for him to spout the usual pathetic excuse, that she was too good for his bed. Instead, he broke the stare first, ducking his head as he turned away. “Well, I didn’t, so that’s not terribly helpful at the moment either.”
Silently drumming her fingers on her arm, Reida watched him as he seated himself on the edge of Kairn’s bed and stared at the floor between his feet. He shook his head a few times, made a few odd gestures with his hands between his knees as if the whole thing were mapped in the air in front of him. Reida cleared her throat, and Sethan shot her a dark look.
“So, what’s the plan?” she said.
“Well,” said Sethan, “I had thought to get her out of here quietly, but it seems that’s no longer an option, is it?”
“Nope,” she said cheerfully. “Kairn’s screaming for your blood, and soon Berwyk will be screaming for hers.”
“And you’re enjoying this entirely too much.”
Reida sniffed. “Nothing I’d like to see more than the whore’s head on a shelf.”
“She is carrying the key, you realize.”
Reida shook her head. “I have a plan, see?” She plopped down on the bed beside him and threw an arm across his shoulders before he could edge away. She leaned in with a conspiratorial tone and a none too subtle view of the tops of her breasts. “We scrap this one. It was a good effort and all, but time to try again.” He shifted beside her, peeling his side from hers. She squeezed his shoulder, pulling him in as she leaned back to gesture. “Why, there’s even a bed right here. How convenient is that?”
Sethan pried her fingers from his shoulder. “I’m not sure it works that way,” he said, dropping her hand into her own lap. “For all we know the gods are already hung up on this one.”
“Spoilsport.” Reida scowled at him as he slid a good foot away from her.
“I already have a backup plan.” That crooked half-smile of his slid across his lips, and it was Reida’s turn to raise a brow.
“Oh?”
“It’s in Kairn’s hands now.”
“You’re going to tell him?” she said, scrabbling to think of any possibility that made the least bit of sense.
“Of course not.”
“Well, what then?”
“We are…simply going to appeal to his decency by doing what you do best.”
“Oh?”
“Scaring him.”