[center][h1][b][color=f26522]Roman[/color] & [color=DAF6C7]Riona[/color] Part 2[/b][/h1][h3][color=Red][sup][b]Trigger Warning:[/b] Blood[/sup][/color][/h3][/center][hr][color=LightGray]
[center][h3][sub][color=gray]Morning of Sola 25, 1739[/color][/sub][/h3][/center]

[color=f26522]“Good”[/color] he spoke and with a flick of his wrist a leather pouch sailed toward the girl landing with the sound of metal coins rubbing against themselves. [color=f26522]“Now as for payment.”[/color] he stated after his test of her reflexes. 

[color=f26522]“That should roughly be about what you normally make in a month. We can pay you however you wish, jewels, fine goods, a lock box in another city, disperse it among the lower class citizens, even a buried chest in the forest.”[/color]

He gestured towards the bag he tossed her. [color=f26522]“Every time you hand off any information to any of the ravenwood citizens or workers that carry my sigil you will be paid. If it isn't good intel you'll still get this much, you get more depending on the quality of the information."[/color] He gave her another moment to process the info. His eyes and ears still scanned their surroundings for listening ears or prying eyes.

The pouch landed in Riona’s hands with a satisfying weight, the clink of coins within unmistakable. Her fingers traced the outlines of what must have been silver pieces—a month’s wages, he’d said. Her heart quickened at the possibilities. Then, her frugal mind instantly began allocating the unexpected windfall.

With extra coin, she could restock her dwindling supplies of components, maybe even splurge on expensive ingredients and better tools she normally had to pass over. Some would be set aside for emergencies. The rest would go to the charitable works she conducted through “Miss Vos’” banking account.

Riona’s attention shifted from the coin pouch to the ceremonial fire pit, then to the small burial spot. [color=DAF6C7]“I have some questions,”[/color] she said before returning her gaze to Roman. [color=DAF6C7]“First, does the payment have to be money?”[/color]

She didn't look to have any issue catching the bag flung at her, good reflexes and an inquisitive mind. [color=f26522]“I would be worried if you didn’t.”[/color] he responded. Turning where he stood to make his way towards a tree on the outside of the cleared meadow. Several large and small rocks piled at its base in seemingly no order.

[color=f26522]“No it does not.”[/color] he stated, shifting his head slightly towards her. [color=f26522]“Like I said we can pay you with anything you like however you like. But it will not be anything more or less than what you are owed.”[/color] Roman knelt down at the tree and began slowly moving the stones away from the base.

Riona nodded, filing that tidbit away for later. She offered the coin pouch back to Roman. [color=DAF6C7]“You should take this back then, I haven’t done anything yet.”[/color]

Her mind latched onto his earlier words. [color=DAF6C7]“About those details you couldn’t say until I accepted. What are they? Are they tied to the offer you said you’re gonna give to Callum? Or that thing you claim I could use against you?”[/color]

He waved off her hand when she tried to give back the coins, [color=f26522]“that is for hearing me out and accepting the job. I have built up the guild I started, enough that I don't need to worry about coins or money.”[/color] continued to clear the stones until he got to the base of the tree. A quick look would reveal a rune carved into the base of the tree and some kind of clear crystal embedded into the engraving. 

[color=f26522]“I will make one thing clear to you.”[/color] his gaze shifting to lock eyes with her’s. [color=f26522]“Everything I have told you, I have told only you, and I can talk my way out of any of it.”[/color] not an outright threat but a warning, a clear one.

[color=DAF6C7]“... I really hope this isn’t the ‘thing I can use against you’ you were talking about, then.”[/color] Riona said as she put the pouch into her basket. [color=DAF6C7]“Kind of defeats the purpose.”[/color]

His gaze returned to the tree and he gestured to her to look closer. There was only a moment for her to see what he was looking for before his hand covered the mark in the tree. He spoke in a low whisper but with confidence, every word punctuated followed swiftly by the sound of wood splitting, [color=f26522][i]“andar vísa veginn, endurbyggja, móta, endurvaxa.”[/i][/color]

Grimacing slightly at the discomfort, the skin on his hand shifting to match the bark of the tree without the color. He drew his hand back allowing them both to see the crystal and rune sink into the tree while the bark moved to cover the wound. A small spell but enough for his needs.

Riona felt it before she saw it. A prickling sensation crawled across her skin, raising the fine hairs on her arms. The air around them seemed to thicken, to shift, as if reality itself was being rewritten. But it wasn’t just the atmosphere that changed; the thing deep within, stirred in response. She sucked in a sharp breath, and took an involuntary step back.

Roman had just confirmed what she’d begun to suspect, and he’d done it right in front of her. Was this what he’d meant? When he'd spoken of leverage, had he intended for her to witness this? Riona’s gaze flickered between Roman and the tree.

All he did for the next few moments was rub his hand deciding how to answer her other question. [color=f26522]“I will not give you details or tell you how we know… we have found evidence of necromancy.”[/color] a short pause to allow her to keep up. Truth is he knew he was drawing attention to specific people and families by saying this but pressure needed to be applied and not just by him. 

Yet it was still information that needed further investigation even if all he had to go on was Violet's resurrection and vampirism. [color=f26522]“There are also somewhere between 2 to 4 vampires operating within the city.”[/color] The fact she was a vampire alone was enough information to say that there were at least a couple more without completely lying through his teeth.

Riona’s eyes widened. Vampires? In Sorian? The revelation left her momentarily speechless. [color=DAF6C7]“So…”[/color] She cleared her throat and tried again. [color=DAF6C7]“So your actual mission is to hunt down these vampires?”[/color] The words felt surreal as they left her lips. [color=DAF6C7]“Is that…”[/color] Her gaze returned to the tree where the crystal and rune sank into. [color=DAF6C7]“What House Ravenwood does? Hunt the supernatural?[/color]

[color=f26522]“No”[/color] he stated bluntly to her question, his tone remained casual as if this was a common thing to talk about. He motioned for her to follow as he began to walk toward another tree on the edge of the field. She hesitated only for a moment before following him.

[color=f26522]“Vampires can be reasoned with, it is just a curse after all. My grandfather worked with one before.”[/color] That part was true, one of the many secrets his father passed down to him. However, he was quickly reminded that he was again getting close to things he shouldn't be saying with the stinging flare of the mark on his arm.

[color=f26522]“As long as they are fed and can control themselves they can be useful…”[/color] pausing for a moment as he thought of those cursed souls who were truly unpredictable. [color=f26522]“no, it's the alter personality or twin soul curses you have to be worried about.”[/color] He knew that lesson far too well. The maid was still staring at him intently as if searching for something.

[color=DAF6C7]“You’re used to the supernatural.”[/color] She said. It wasn’t a question anymore, it was a statement of fact. And it brought her some comfort. [color=DAF6C7]“Why are you so concerned about vampire activity in Caesonia?”[/color]

[color=f26522]“The supernatural is all around us, we just got worse at seeing it.”[/color] He answered again and began to pull stones from the base of another tree. [color=f26522]“Vampires are solitary and territorial. They don't normally get together like this unless one is old and powerful enough to buy or intimidate their way past the inquisition or they are being paid to be here.”[/color] Some of that statement was speculation based off of what he was told by his father, but he wouldn't tell her that.

[color=f26522]“So who would not only be able to contact them but be able to pay them to be here and why?”[/color] He asked while he was thinking through the problem and guiding her on the same thought process. [color=f26522]“To cause fear in order to aid the employer in control? A secret weapon or disposable strike force? Perhaps some kind of enforcers in some kind of planned calamity?”[/color]

The last of the rocks were pulled away revealing another rune, different in design but built the same way. [color=f26522]“Their presence here is a threat to everyone, a message.”[/color] 

His explanation seemed plausible enough. As a noble, he did have people to take care of and Riona respected that Roman took his duties to heart. She even got the whole “loose lips sink ships” thing, but come on. [color=DAF6C7]“If their presence here is a threat to everyone, why are you working on this alone?”[/color] Not only did he say that Riona was his only confidant, he made it clear that he would deny everything if she breathed a word. That meant no one else knew.

Keeping people in the dark left them ripe for the bloodsuckers’ picking. [color=DAF6C7]“You need more backup. Real backup. Not just some random maid who’s your friend’s friend. I mean supernatural experts or someone with pull and resources that can coordinate things with you and keep casualties as low as possible.”[/color] Riona paused, realizing another reason why Roman needed a castle maid. [color=DAF6C7]“You think someone up top’s involved.”[/color]

Again he placed his hand over the bark and again he spoke their ancient tongue. Latin was much better at articulating spell craft and what you wanted to happen, its cost was also much more equivalent. Yet, their ancestors found their language was primal, elemental, powerful, but expensive for what it did.

His skin cracked and began to slowly weep blood as the bark disfiguration on his hand grew and dug into him. It made him grimace quietly to himself and there was still one more to go.

Riona’s hand shot out and closed around his arm before he could hide the damage. She tugged it closer, eyes narrowing as she studied the blood and wooden growth. A nearby spring could help with cleaning. But treatment? Her gaze flicked to her herb basket, mind racing through healing properties and combinations. Bandages, she definitely needed bandages. Her eyes darted to her skirt. It wasn’t exactly clean, but it beat nothing. Sorry, modesty.

[color=DAF6C7]“Okay, that’s it.”[/color] The question burst out of her, unable to hold back any longer. [color=DAF6C7]“What in the hells are you doing?”[/color]

His eyes scanned her expressions as she gripped his arm where he thought he might find suspicion or fear he was only met with a feeling of curiosity and the faintest bit or worry. [color=f26522]“This is what I can't explain away. Those crystals will still be in these trees for a very long time. The magic we used was absorbed into them.”[/color]  

For a moment, she didn’t know what he was talking about, but then she recalled the leverage; the “thing she could use against him.”

[color=DAF6C7]“First off, nice try, but you didn’t answer the question. Second, you can still lie about it,”[/color] she said. [color=DAF6C7]“And who do you think people will take the side of? The random commoner or the noble lord?”[/color] Riona shook her head. [color=DAF6C7]“No, you’re going to have to give me something concrete. Something you can’t weasel your way out of.”[/color]

Again he watched her eyes move from his arm to her basket, [color=f26522]“I have what I need to bandage myself and there is still one more tree that I have to do this too. Your concern is appreciated.”[/color]  it was a true statement, this was the exact reason he came out here. Well, that and to clear his head.

The man picked himself back up and began to walk to the next tree. Pulling his sleeve up to his elbow and letting the blood occasionally drip from his hand into the ground. [color=f26522]“It is a sacrifice to our gods anyway, a price to be paid.” [/color] 

His voice trailed off for a moment while he regarded her earlier words as he walked, [color=f26522]“information on the vampiric curse is extremely hard to find, as is most curses. The only so-called ‘experts’ on these things are agents of the inquisition. Vampires are a threat but it's more of a show of power. It's rare that they are called into action but it does happen.”[/color]  he paused in his ranting and looked at Riona.

[color=f26522]“I am not alone, as I said I have plenty of eyes outside the castle but none inside. Using the inquisition as a bluff is the most ill do. Where the city guard here are a hammer in terms of their abilities to investigate and solve these issues, the royal guard is a sledge hammer. Both are equally able to scatter the rats but innocents can get caught in the crossfire.”[/color]  another pause as if to strain his point. 

[color=f26522]“In those terms the inquisition is a cannon and many innocents will die while the roaches get away. The groups I work with are a scalpel, they go after supply lines and leadership, plant seeds of chaos and misinformation so that the vermin eat themselves.”[/color]  he stated with confidence. [color=f26522]“We just have to find them first.”[/color] 

[color=DAF6C7]“Obviously the Inquisition isn’t much of an expert if all they do is make a mess and fail to get their target,”[/color] Riona said dryly, arching an eyebrow. Then she sighed, [color=DAF6C7]“I get it, you’re saying you guys are the closest thing to an expert. But I still think you’re putting innocent people at risk by keeping everyone in the dark about it.”[/color] It felt like sending a child out into the woods without telling them that there were wolves out there, all because Roman wanted to make sure that the pack leader didn’t notice he and his men were tracking them.

She fell silent, her eyes fixed on Roman’s hands as he worked his magic. Try as she might, she couldn’t quite puzzle out the purpose of the spell.

Stopping in his tracks he turned his head over his shoulder to look over at her with a cold stare. For a moment that's all he did, no smile barley any emotion at all. [color=f26522]“You are NOT some random commoner Ríoghnach….”[/color]  giving her his full attention for the moment he continued, [color=f26522]“I am telling others just as I am doing now, slowly. Spreading this information to the wrong people can get the inquisition's attention and cause widespread panic.”[/color]  

That was when Riona knew she couldn’t take everything he said at face value.
[color=f26522]“Everything I have told you, I have told only you, and I can talk my way out of any of it.”[/color]
[color=f26522][i]“I am telling others just as I am doing now, slowly.”[/i][/color]
[color=DAF6C7][i]So which is it, Roman? You can’t have both.[/i][/color]

Clenching his jaw in thought, Roman continued, [color=f26522]“I intend to minimize the threat of both the criminal syndicate and rebel cell in this city and this kingdom. If either of them win, many innocent people will die.”[/color]  reiterating the reason he was talking to her in the first place. 

Riona frowned slightly. One second they’re discussing vampires, the next he’s on about criminal syndicates and rebels again? Sure, he mentioned the vampires having a powerful employer, and maybe he thought there was a connection with the criminal syndicates, but the rebels? Really? No… This felt less like altruism and more like a wolf eyeing up the neighbor’s henhouse.

Then again…

Innocent people would die regardless of who won: the syndicate, the rebels, or the current regime. They were dying now even as they spoke. Not in battlefields or massacres... but quietly.

Absent-mindedly, his hand reached up and rubbed his necklace spreading the red liquid across its surface. His arm ached from the spell’s and burned from the inflammation of his blood bond. It was up past his elbow now with the intricate pattern beginning to flare red across his skin.

His gaze was pulled away from the ache in his arm and back to her. He could tell her of the relics they brought with them but that might kill him. [color=f26522]“Hidden in a secret compartment in my personal chest is a book. You need a magnet to lift the bottom of the chest out. The book is magic and it's old, I've been translating the book for some time.”[/color]  showing her the crystal he gripped in his hand, [color=f26522]“I found it deep in a mountain, on a pedestal of obsidian surrounded by crystals, jem’s, and jewels growing from the surrounding stone.”[/color] 

The memory of the place made him sigh, it was peaceful there. [color=f26522]“The crystals hold magic better than any other medium I have found. They are used in these trees as they absorb the spell we cast during our ritual here… this should make the effects of the spell last longer in this area.”[/color]  should was the key word there although they understood some of what these crystals were for they didn't have a true understanding of them.

Fascination lit up Riona’s eyes. This was the stuff straight out of a novel or one of her cousin’s adventures—secret compartments, magic books, mountain crystals—each detail ignited her curiosity. [color=DAF6C7]“So this spell,”[/color] she said, gesturing at the trees. [color=DAF6C7]“What’s it actually supposed to do?”[/color] More importantly. [color=DAF6C7]“Can you teach me how to use those crystals?... Rune magic?”[/color]

Again she was met with silence as he regarded her. The silence continued as he removed the last of the stones from the last tree. Roman didn't even regard her again until after the spell was cast leaving his arm looking almost like the tree behind him. His breath became more strained with the use of the last spell.

[color=f26522]“Peace, Luck, and healing.” [/color] he started as he retrieved a small bottle from his hip pouch. [color=f26522]“A powerful ritual conducted at the same time as sixteen other similar rituals were performed across all three of the major kingdoms in hidden locations.”[/color]  A sigh escaped him; he was not looking forward to what he had to do next. 

[i]Peace, Luck, and healing.[/i] The words echoed in her mind, taunting her. If true, it changed things.

Riona’s hand drifted to her chest, fingers splaying over the ever-present fire within. She thought she enjoyed her time in the forest because of the tranquility nature brought… well, naturally. But if it was magically induced?

Her lips pressed into a thin line. She might need to stop coming here.

For all she knew, the rune’s magic could be mucking with her own. Weakening it. Hells, maybe even be powerful enough to just undo what she had been working for for all these years entirely.

Riona’s grip tightened over her heart. Would she need to destroy these? The thought of it made her stomach twist with guilt. It felt like kicking puppies—if puppies were arcane safeguards meant to protect people. People. That meant [i]them[/i] too: the Danroses.

[color=4E0E04][i]Why?... If this was always here, why didn’t it protect us when we needed it the most?[/i][/color]

[color=f26522]“It affects everyone and everything differently, but it's a slow burn spell and will take its time. Until then chaos will be a normal occurrence while the natural world shifts to realign its balance.”[/color] 

Roman’s concern about the rebels suddenly clicked into place: if he followed some Druidic philosophy, one that emphasized balance between chaos and order, then of course he’d be wary of sudden upheaval. Even if he claimed to care for the downtrodden.

Surely he must know that discontent doesn’t sprout from contentment. People didn’t risk their lives, their families, for trivial reasons. No, this unrest had deep roots—poverty, oppression, desperation: imbalance.

A sharp breath in and then a grimace, [color=f26522]“Fuck.”[/color]  spoken through gritted teeth as the green slimy concoction flowed from the bottle and over his arm. Audible sizzling and the strong stench of hard solvents filled the air. Pain evident on his face while he tried to think of something else, the bleeding slowly replaced by the dripping of the ooze.

Riona visibly flinched at his pain, hand raised to reach over to him before she stopped herself.

[color=f26522]“If the information you get me is… good, I can teach you a… little at a time. It would count as some of your… payment.”[/color]  Romans eyes flared and his arm shook while biting back the pain. [color=f26522]“I… I can arrange it so that we pair up for the… up-upcoming camping event.”[/color] 

Riona forced herself to nod, her eyes never leaving Roman. The acrid smell of chemicals made her nose wrinkle. [color=DAF6C7]“I’ll... see you at the camping event then,”[/color] she managed, her throat tight. [color=DAF6C7]“Are you done casting spells?”[/color]

The moment he grunted an affirmative, Riona didn’t hesitate. She grabbed his uninjured arm. [color=DAF6C7]“Come on,”[/color] she said, tugging him towards the nearest spring, her grip firm but gentle. [color=DAF6C7]“We’re patching you up. Now.”[/color] Her tone brooked no argument.

Glancing back, she grimaced at the ooze and blood. [color=DAF6C7]“First, we’re getting that off you,”[/color] Riona said, [color=DAF6C7]“Then I’ll whip up something for the pain with what I can. Any allergies I should know about?”[/color]

[color=f26522]“One more thing to do.”[/color]  He placed two rolls of cloth next to them and a clear bottle with an amber colored viscous liquid inside, [color=f26522]“the honey will help with the burns… it needs to look like an accident at the forge.”[/color]  he neither hesitated or explained more.

He didn't let her respond with a flick of his hand. The lighter he had retrieved from his pouch sparked to life. A bright white and orange flash traveled across his left arm burning off the ooze and searing his flesh.

His right hand plunged into the ground as deep breaths took him over. The pain was intense but far from the worst he has been through. The fall down the mountain when the rope snapped was still his least favorite experience. At the very least his shaman would be able to get it his hand working again by the morning.

[color=f26522]“Ok… ok… now you can take care of it and no, I only have issues with Raspberries.”[/color]  he spoke between breaths. Many years of training and work kicked in to keep himself calm and controlled. Mostly it was getting his mind over it, physically this would just be a few more scars on his arm in a few weeks. A benefit of the curse he thought.

Riona’s stomach lurched as Roman’s flesh sizzled. The stench of burning skin hit her nostrils, memories resurfaced, and she swallowed hard against the bile rising in her throat. Sh*t. This was bad. She shook her head, forcing herself to focus. Burns. She could treat burns.

[color=DAF6C7]“Keep your hand under the water,”[/color] she ordered, guiding his hand into the cool spring. “I’ll be right back.”

She darted into the underbrush, eyes scanning for anything useful. There—yarrows. And there—comfrey and plantain leaves. Into the basket they went. With her knife, she scored the bark of a willow tree, peeling back a strip to reveal the pale inner layer. Carefully shaving off what she needed, Riona snapped off a leafy branch, then sprinted back to Roman.

He did what he was told, the pain in his arm momentarily overpowering his train of thought. This might not have been the best idea but at least she is able to work like this. His thoughts ran over all the information he passed onto her, wondering if he made the right decision hiring her.

Back at the spring, she set Roman’s arm to air dry while she prepped. Riona rinsed the plants and her mouth before grinding them with her teeth into paste. It wasn’t exactly sanitary, but this would have to do. Her cotton skirt tore with a satisfying rip—damnit. Roman’s bandages. Could’ve used those. Ah well, waste not, want not.

Gently, she daubed the herbal paste over Roman’s angry red skin, layering willow leaves atop it before wrapping everything securely with the cloth. [color=DAF6C7]“Why are you doing all this?”[/color] Riona finally asked. [color=DAF6C7]“Out of the goodness of your heart? A sense of duty?... Why?”[/color]

Silence was all she was met with. He was obviously thinking. Either not knowing the answer or deciding how to answer. His gaze moved from his arm to meet hers, [color=f26522]“you could say it's duty…”[/color] again silence his stare looking as if he was looking at something a thousand miles away.[color=f26522] “My will is not entirely my own.”[/color] the confidence in his voice wavered for the first time during their conversation, his gaze shifting to his right arm.

[color=f26522][i]“My will is not entirely my own.”[/i][/color]

An unexpected, familiar ache rose in Riona’s chest. She understood—maybe not in the same way, not in the way Roman lived it every day—but she knew it through her cousin. A kind of curse that binds and hollows out a person bit by bit. Her mother had distanced them from the burden the family carried, carving out a life far from the duties that consumed those left behind. It had spared Riona the responsibility, but her cousin hadn’t been so lucky.

Then there was the more literal type of curse… 
[color=f26522][i]“...it’s the alter personality or twin soul curses you have to be worried about.”[/i][/color]

Her fingers slowed as she finished securing the last knot. [color=DAF6C7]“I’m sorry,”[/color] Riona said to Roman, but also to the memory of her cousin. [color=DAF6C7]“It’s not fair…”[/color]

[color=DAF6C7]“If you are doing this for everyone’s sake… then thank you.”[/color] Riona withdrew her hands. [color=DAF6C7]“I hope there’s something or someone in your life that makes it all worthwhile.”[/color]

Again her answer was silence and a thousand yard stare. His thoughts replaying memories, quick flashes of suffering and strife, love and loss, only to end with death and rage. His gaze returned to hers, his confidence returning with a hint of anger. Not at her or the pain in his arm, no this was an anger towards the world. 

[color=4E0E04]... The spell fed on that anger, the hate, as it always did. And grew.[/color]

[color=f26522]“There was once. I might be able to find someone again.”[/color] The large man stood pulling down his jacket sleeve carefully then slipped on his gloves. [color=f26522]“I appreciate what you have done but don't thank me, at the end of this summer we may end up being enemies.”[/color] the man paused as if remembering something. [color=f26522]“There was one other thing I have to pay you with but I'll talk to you more about it at the camping event. I wish you the best of luck in all your endeavors Riona.”[/color][/color]