Fennec

Cancel my appointments, I've been sold into slavery.

A few days passed, uneventful. Aleksandra used the token Aulfr had given her to go out and buy new gear. She had her own wardrobe now as well, mostly some light armor and custom-tailored trousers, but also a few dresses in case she needed them. She also had her own brush, soaps, and other personal items. Her weapons were as close to mastercrafted as she could buy without getting in trouble.

Her relationship with Aulfr had relaxed a bit. She could sleep in the bed again without much trouble. They had been sparring a few times a day so she could feel better about it.

Aleksandra was fast asleep when Aulfr returned from some mission or other, as usual. And like always, it seemed he could never enter quietly. She startled awake from the nightmare she'd been having, almost grateful that she'd woken. Then she started dozing again. She could hear the clink and shuffle of him pulling off his armor and extraneous clothing before the bed dipped.

For a moment she felt strange, not seeing him climb into bed but feeling and hearing it. Hearing him sigh as he relaxed, feeling the blankets lift and his leg brushing against hers. She felt married, and the thought was so amusing that she smiled.

Still mostly asleep, she rolled over, but found her cheek pressed against his arm. She wanted to move away, but found that her sleep-addled brain made her do the opposite. She snuggled closer and curled her hand around his bicep, relaxing against him. He was warm and didn't exactly smell like roses. Whatever he'd been doing had probably been strenuous. But it was the strength in him that both terrified and comforted her. She mumbled something in Ardanian, too quiet and sleepy to be intelligible, and fell back asleep still holding him.

Cancel my appointments, I've been sold into slavery.

Aleksandra watched with growing dismay as he stood there, doing nothing, and steeled herself for the blow she knew was coming. And it came. She stumbled back, falling on her ass as blood gushed from her nose like a geyser. She was spluttering half-finished curses, not entirely at Aulfr. And when he snapped her broken nose back into place, she abandoned Noxan altogether and starting growling at him in Ardanian. She had a very colorful vocabulary.

She watched him with a petulant expression as he got up and walked away, leaving her the cloth to mop up her blood. She didn't like the look he'd given her. And if her thought he or some shoddy soldier was going to kill her brothers, he was more than wrong, he was insane. She was going to ruin Vasily and Rusalka, and then she'd kill them and bathe in their Devils-damned blood.

She took a moment to clean herself up and staunch the bleeding before staggering to her feet and following the prince. The next forty-five minutes passed with her giving a detailed account of her hunt. Who the Jarl had visited, all the shops he bought from, descriptions of his guards and his possessions and all of his written documents, which she had in her satchel. She hadn't read them, knowing that she hadn't the time. She retrieved them for Aulfr and handed them over.

"I visited an artist I know in the city, someone who knows my identity as the Handmaid and can keep a secret. He painted twenty cards with wolves whose fur are the royal colors. I left one inside the Jarl's mouth. The message is clear: Aulfr Volsung deals swift punishment to those who oppose him." She also retrieved one of the cards from her satchel and showed it to him.

Cancel my appointments, I've been sold into slavery.

Aleksandra was deeply confused as she lay under Aulfr's bed, curled around her stolen pillow like a kitten. The part of her that was still terrified couldn't understand why this tormentor was being so kind, so gruffly gentle. Then the part of her that was rational, trying to calm down, felt touched by his concern and the effort he was making to fix what he'd done. All in all, she was a mess of feelings, none of which she wanted to be feeling.

She tried halfheartedly to tug her wrist away from Aulfr when he reached down and pulled her out from under the bed, but she really did want that bath. She could see the steam curling out of the washroom and knew that she'd be able to calm down the moment she was behind that door, scrubbing the ghost of her brothers' hands from her skin with the scalding water. So she let him pull her from her hiding place, but let go of his hand immediately after that. She walked just out of his touch while he ushered her to her bath.

After the door closed behind her, she just stood there on trembling legs, staring at the water. She stepped forward and sunk into it without even taking her clothes off. She water was so hot that she flinched away from it with a hiss. Already her skin was bright red from the heat. Good. She submerged herself completely, screaming silently into the water until the pain faded. Then she came up for air and started pulling of her sopping wet clothes.

She was red everywhere, and her skin was numb. She could almost feel their hands on her, which meant she had to go back under. So that was what she did for the next half hour. She dunked herself over and over, scrubbing at her numb red skin until she really couldn't feel it anymore. After that, she was content to lay there in the water until it cooled, letting her breathing slow and shaking subside.

Once the water was cold again, she drained it and climbed out. One of the outfits she'd made was sitting neatly on a stone bench against the wall, so she dried herself and put those on. Then, steeling herself, she opened the door and stood there, her expression stony. "My brothers raped me when I was ten. Vasily was nineteen and Rusalka was sixteen. After that, I asked my father to teach me to fight. Once I knew the basics, I stole as much gold as I could and ran away. My only goal in life is to be strong enough to kill them. As for what happened today, I refuse to discuss it with you. It's done. Now yell at me for punching you so we can get on with our day."

Cancel my appointments, I've been sold into slavery.

Aleksandra wanted to run, but her legs would not carry her away. She wanted to scream, but she couldn't speak. She wanted to hit Aulfr until her hands no longer existed, but all she could do was lay there, shaking so violently that her teeth clicked together. Just when she thought she could move herself, Aulfr reached down and did it for her. She almost started screaming again, thinking maybe he'd just been pretending not to hurt her to make her more scared. She was in his lap, and her muscles tensed into rock, but then his arms were around her so tightly it was almost hard to breathe, his fingers gently combing through her hair.

She kept shaking, kept chattering her teeth, but it slowed fractionally. She couldn't bring herself to relax against him, so she curled into herself, letting him do what he felt he needed to to make this right again. She was embarrassed beyond all reason. He was never going to hurt her, of course he wasn't. He was a brute and a man who had his needs, but he was honorable in that regard. But the fear of being overpowered, of a man looming above her with that cold and distant expression... It would never leave her.

She had stopped crying the moment he took his weight off of her. She hated crying, and couldn't recall the last time it had happened. Years and years ago. Maybe even that night, when her brothers had robbed her of her entire sense of self. She could still hear their voices in her ear, their breath hot on her cheek. Dirty little whore. Must run in the blood. Vile whores' blood. They'd left her lying on the bed, so petrified she couldn't even shake. She'd stared up at the ceiling for Saints-knew-how-long, tears streaming from her eyes silently.

She sat in Aulfr's arms for nearly an hour. She couldn't stand being touched any longer than that. She was shaking still, badly enough that she had to hold onto the bed to keep standing. The bed. She made a disgusted face and forced herself to stand on her own. Where to go? Not the chair. Not just the floor. Somewhere dark and quiet and where sound was muffled. Her gaze went down, then she grabbed a pillow from the bed and slid underneath the frame, letting the heavy blankets cover all surrounding sides. Dark, warm, quiet. Safe. She would have preferred a bath so hot she wouldn't be able to feel her skin for two days. But this would be okay.

Cancel my appointments, I've been sold into slavery.

Aleksandra growled and tuned him out, her head pounding ferociously as she struggled against him. And then, slowly, she stopped. The color drained from her face as she wiggled her hands, trying to loosen his grip. Can't move... His grip was as solid as stone. He loomed above her, blocking everything else out. The warmth that had been so comforting the night before was now suffocating her. Can't move! And the expression on his face... She didn't think she could feel this dread, this terror, not anymore.

Cruel laughter. Leering grins in the dark. Her brothers. Her brothers. Can't move. She started thrashing like a wild animal, trying to headbutt him and scratch at him, screaming at him to let her go, let her go. Pressing her legs together tightly, though she knew her strength was no match for his. CannotmovecannotmoveCANNOTMOVE. She tried everything, yanking and kicking and jerking about until she was exhausted, her throat hoarse from screaming and her head splitting from her wicked hangover.

"Don't do it," she choked, forcing back her tears. They didn't listen, dripping down her cheeks like the traitors they were. She fell back against the sheets, limp and hopeless. "Don't, don't, not again," she whimpered, trying to hide her face in her shoulder. She began mumbling through her growing sobs. "Can't move, hurts, not again, not again. Monsters. Monsters," she moaned.

Rusalka holding her down. Vasily hovering over her, his expression cold and dead as he hurt her, and Rusalka laughing through it all, like it was a fun game. Her own family. Her blood. She didn't want to be hurt like that again. And the one person she was beginning to trust had betrayed her completely. He probably didn't know the effect his pinning her down would have, but it made no difference at the moment. She was petrified.

Cancel my appointments, I've been sold into slavery.

Aleksandra slowly grew more and more boiled, hardly caring that she was nestled right up against Aulfr. She knew, in some deep and distant part of her brain, that he wouldn't take advantage of her. He was so warm, and he felt so much stronger than other people. And even though she was so strong herself, she drew comfort in knowing that no one could hurt her if Aulfr was by her side.

She spilled almost all of her secrets to him for sips of cider. It was mortifying, and she'd hate herself in the morning, but right now she was warm and happy, humming fun tunes and mumbling in Ardanian. She reached up and buried her fingers in Aulfr's hair just before her called her name. Ooh, she liked her name when it said it like that, all quiet and rough, a little playful. And then his question. She tried to understand it, but everything was so complicated. She translated as best she could, thought for a moment, then laughed and slid down until her head was in his lap. She giggled her answer in slurred Ardanian and promptly fell asleep, snoring like a monster.

~Morning~

The urge to vomit hit her so quickly that she barely had time to make it to the window. She hung over the edge, gagging until her head pounded like that Jarl had hit her dead-on. There was a splat and a vehement protest from the balcony below as whoever stood under the window received the remnants of last night's drinking. Only then did she fully begin to comprehend what had happened. She just stood there, shaking in all sorts of emotions. Rage, mortification, fear. He knew. He knew almost everything except why she'd run away from home. That, at least, had been impossible to pry from her drunken lips.

She turned to glare at him, but closed the heavy curtains to block out the light that stabbed her eyes. He seemed to be waking up, and she wanted to walk over and punch him. In fact, she did walk over and punch him. She hopped onto the bed, straddled his legs, and punched him in the nose as hard as she could. She felt a few things crack. She knew one of them was at least one finger, but nothing she couldn't fix herself. She hoped the other thing was his stupid, perfectly crooked nose. She wanted to ruin how pretty it was by making it more crooked.

"How dare you," she growled. "You took advantage of a drunk woman for no good reason other than to sate your curiosity. What have you gained, exactly, by knowing who I am and who my family is? My mother was a whore, my father a soldier. That's all that matters. I'm no lady, I have no titles, no wealth, no status. I have a name, and it is a name I haven't claimed in over ten years." She refused to even acknowledge what else he'd asked her. It was a good thing she'd been too drunk to translate properly.

Cancel my appointments, I've been sold into slavery.

Aleksandra was covered in muck when she climbed, exhausted, through Aulfr's window. She was swaying on her feet, so tired she could hardly see straight. She let her mask and cloak drop to the floor, then unbuckled her belt and let her daggers drop as well. She kicked off her boots and stumbled over to the bed, letting herself fall into the softness with a groan. She almost landed in Aulfr's lap.

"The deed is done, oh future Oberjarl. And it was not easy. That man had an absurd number of guards. Seems he already knew he was in trouble." She forced herself to sit up, leaning back against the headboard. She grabbed his goblet from him and downed the rest of whatever was in it without bothering to ask what it was. A soothing warmth spread through her limbs, all to way to her toes, and she made a delighted noise. She motioned for him to pour more of it, her eyes closed.

"I had to purchase a sedative and make sure it got in their wine. Then I had to serve it to the disgusting brutes. One of them tried to put his hand up my dress," she grumbled in her stolen cup. She drank deeply, then drained it. Her cheeks were flushed now, and she was starting to feel much too hot. She tied up her hair with a leather cord and tugged off her armored tunic, so she was sat there in just her trousers and her linen undershirt, which clung to her tightly.

"I got them all to sleep, then I crept into the Jarl's room and killed him quietly, no blood and no fuss." She was slurring her words now, which she very suddenly noticed. She glanced at her goblet, thinking maybe she was just tired and more of whatever this was would fix her up. So she drank the rest. And she did not get better. In fact, she realized it was the whatever-is-was making her warm and fuzzy. "Oh nooo," she cooed, then giggled. She giggled. "Aulfr, didjou get me drunk? Bad. This is bad, bad, not good." She rose up, wobbling much worse than before and meaning to get out of bed. She ended up falling face-first onto the floor with a girlish squeal.

"Ughh... Aulfie, fix me. You did this. I don't drink. Aleksa- Alexia Rayt cannot drink!" She made an attempt to crawl onto the bed, and this time she did fall into his lap. She sighed, resigned to her fate, and curled up there. "You're mean. You didn't tell me it was alcohol."

Cancel my appointments, I've been sold into slavery.

"It might be a good idea to keep a low flame going underneath the barrels to heat the water. Keep it warm," she suggested, heading for the discreet door. It had been a long while since she'd had a bath, or even used soap. She was looking forward to this immensely. She stepped inside and shut the door behind her, giddy to see the rounded bowl-like depression in the floor and the pipe above it, with water dripping from the place it was capped. Inside the castle, it would at least be lukewarm. She uncapped the pipe and let the stone tub fill while she undressed.

She took her time in the bath, making sure every inch of her was clean and fresh, especially her hair, which could almost hold a shape on it's own before being washed. She couldn't stand being so filthy on her travels, and had always put her coin to use by taking hot baths in every decent inn she occupied. And she always carried unscented soaps in her satchel in case she had to bathe in a river or lake. She didn't just hate filth, she loved bathing. Almost as much as she loved fighting.

Once she was finished, she pulled a little cork in the bottom of the tub that she supposed must lead to another barrel, this one for dirty water. How clever. Then she dried off with one of the thick, fluffy towels hanging up near the door and braided her hair before pulling on her clothes. She exited the room and started pulling on her gear. "I'll be gone no more than four days. I'm going to take one of the horses from the stable so I can move around the city easily. Don't worry, I won't take Caego," she sighed. "He'd stand out for miles." She tugged on her boots and cloak, then retrieved her mask from where it hung next to the bed.

"Try not to die while I'm gone. That would make for an awkward return, don't you think?" She gave a grin and tied on her mask. She howled softly, then stole out the window with a quiet laugh.

Cancel my appointments, I've been sold into slavery.

Aleksandra sat down in what she now thought of as her sewing chair and watched Aulfr go about his business. She pulled her legs to her chest as she went over the plan in her head, hardly noticing how much younger and sweeter the position made her look. She'd have to use pressure points to kill him if Aulfr didn't want any blood. Or maybe poison? She could buy something extremely potent with the money he was allowing her. She pulled the token he'd given her from her pocket and ran her thumb over the face, then rolled it over her knuckles and back again, a trick she'd learned while at sea.

"There will be rumors that I've seduced you. That I'm making a play for your throne, or even that I'm trying to become your queen. I'll be targeted mercilessly. By man and woman alike," she murmured, having seen the glances the court ladies gave Aulfr. Jealous women were as poisonous as vipers, and just as deadly when stirred into a frenzy. She wasn't looking forward to all the banter and snide remarks. She'd heard it all before when taking on similar clients. Little whore, slut, Ardanian bitch. Ugly, scarred gremlin. She much preferred to run people through, not listen to mean remarks from petty brats.

She glanced up at the servant from before entered and set a tray of food on the table before her. She slid from her chair and settled herself on the floor, beginning to scarf down the food like a beast. She wasn't much for table manners, and it would be only the second thing she had eaten since waking up. She didn't touch the wine, instead choosing the water. She never drank if she could help it, for a few reasons. She was too small for large quantities of alcohol, and she got drunk impossibly fast. She was also not the most reserved drunk. In fact, she was quite the opposite. She was the type of drunk who pulled off most of her clothes and cuddled the nearest warm body. Which is why she never drank.

She finished her meal in record time, sitting back with a satisfied sigh. "I don't think I'll ever grow tired of castle food. Much better than burned rabbit and questionable mushrooms." She pushed away her plate and stood up, pushing her hair from her eyes. "Now, is there anywhere I can bathe before leaving?"

Cancel my appointments, I've been sold into slavery.

Aleksandra was just as giddy as Aulfr, and whipped off her cloak the moment the door closed behind them to reveal this grin on her face. "That was magnificent. Who ever knew that politics could be so fun when you strong-arm everyone?" She raked her hair from her face and sighed, moving to the bed and flopping down onto the sheets. "It has been a long day. I'll head out after you get me a proper meal. And I need to bathe. I feel itchy after all that fighting."

She sat up and removed her gloves and boots, giving a long, catlike stretch. "I'm going to need at least three days to complete the task you've given me. I can give messages to your contacts out in the city so you know I haven't run off, and so you can compile a list as I find out more. I'll kill him before I return. Should I make it especially gory, given that he challenged you publicly?"

She went about the now-familiar room and picked up all of her belongings, setting them neatly beside where she slept on the bed. Her staff was leaned against the wall, one of her daggers hung on the bedpost. The other went under her pillow for easy access. All of her clothes were laid out neatly, ready to be pulled on at a moments' notice. She barely had to put any thought into this routine, having done it thousands of times before sleeping, just in different beds.

"It would also be lovely if you would give me an allowance. I need to buy more clothes and equipment than what I have, and I can't always show up to events dressed like this. I need a dress or two, loathe as I am to admit it. And seeing as most women in this castle are twice my size, I won't be borrowing anything." She began to change into the clothes she'd made for herself, keeping her back turned to Aulfr as she did. "Also, have you considered what rumors your court might be spreading concerning our relationship? I do live in your quarters, and it's not as if I'm hideous," she said with a snort.