Chain Mail and Butterfly Wings

It was about noon the next day and Aiden and I were walking when I asked, “So. Where are you going exactly, and why is General Darren after you?”

“Aw, you want to get serious on me? It was so much more fun pretending I wasn’t on the run.” Aiden--who was in front of me a bit--turned to look at me over his shoulder with a grin.

“Talk,” I ordered.

“Alright, right now I’m talking because you told me to, and so I’ll just keeping talking because you weren’t specific enough, so I can pretty much talk about anything right now, so I’m still talking and this is a run on sentence and I’m starting to run out of,” he took a breath, “air. Look at that flower over there don’t you think it’s--”

“Okay, I get it.”

“--gorgeous flower, what do you think that is, a geranium? Or maybe it’s a poppy, I’m not sure since I really don’t know much about flow--”

“Alright, Aiden, you’d better stop that.”

“--I suppose it could be a daisy. You know that saying ‘stop and smell the daisies’? I never got that saying before--”

“Aiden!” I finally shouted and he stopped with a would-be innocent look on his face.

“What? You told me to talk.”

“You know what I meant! Now, come on. Where are we going?” I decided to ask one question at a time, that way I’d get an answer without letting him skip a question.

“To Castle Reloir,” he answered simply, his tone unreadable.

“Castle Reloir? What for?” I didn’t think that was where he lived, since the infamous Aiden Stone was rumored not to reside in one place too long and was said to have been conceived in the fiery pits of hell. That last part seemed highly unlikely.

“To…uh…see someone.” I saw Aiden’s shoulders stiffen, what was he nervous about?

“‘Someone’ being, who?” I demanded, walking more quickly so that I was walking right beside him, making him even more nervous.

“Someone…er…someone that you probably don’t know. Which reminds me, we should probably split up before we get to Castle Reloir,” Aiden said without looking at me, he seemed to be making it his mission to examine the suddenly intriguing trees.

I shuffled so that I was standing in front of him and he shifted his gaze again, I moved into his sight again, and he looked away again. “Why aren’t you looking at me?” I demanded warily. I grabbed his face in both of my hands and forced him to look at me when I asked, “Who are you going to see? Why do we need to split up?”

Aiden finally looked me in the eyes, by the look in his eyes you would think I was dangling him above a pond filled with piranha and crocodiles and, of course, piranhadiles (since the two would obviously mate somehow).

“I…um…I think there’s something I should tell you, Angeline.” Aiden said, pulling my hands from his face and holding them in his.

I pulled my hands to myself. Angeline? Since when did he call me that? This didn’t sound like it was going to be good. “What?”

“You’re not going to be happy…” He grumbled, scratching the back of his head.

“Out with it.”

“You’re not going to hit me are you?”

“Depends on what you’re going to say.”

“Ahh, that sounds iffy.”

“Aiden,” I warned.

“Alright, alright. Here it goes…I’m…I’m…I mean…I have a…fiancée.” Aiden watched me carefully to gauge my reaction. There was a moment of silence in which I absorbed the information, my face completely blank.

Then, very abruptly, I punched Aiden in the gut, causing him to double over. He kneeled holding his gut, and from the sound of it I had knocked the wind out of him, “Okay…I might…have deserved that one,” he wheezed, still recovering.

“Damn right you did!” I shouted in retaliation. “You’re going to get married? And you’re completely and shamelessly flirting with me!” I continued heatedly. Although the morality of the whole situation wasn’t what had made me so angry.

Aiden lurched to his feet and took a few steps back when I reeled my fist back for a second blow, I was planning on aiming that one a bit lower.

“Look, look, calm down. I know it sounds bad but--”

“But what?” I challenged, mostly angry at myself for coming even closing to liking him.

You didn’t know he was getting married. I told myself firmly, completely fuming on the inside while I kept most of my swearing from becoming verbal.

“But it…I…” He wasn’t sure how to say his next words. He sighed and drew his hand over his face in frustration. “Ugh, what I mean is, I still like you. But…ah, why can’t I find the right words?” Aiden shouted, throwing his hands up in the air, spinning in a circle and then facing me again.

“Maybe because the right words are a little too crude. Let me say them for you: I’m a cheating bastard and I was just trying to molest you while you slept!” I bellowed and Aiden cringed. “There, now they’re out in the open. You can go ahead and say them yourself now. But I won’t be here to listen.” I turned toward the trees lining the right side of the road and stormed away, not looking back once.

“Angel come on! Let me--”

“And don’t call me that!” I yelled over my shoulder, still completely fuming on the inside.

Once I had walked--or more so stomped--for at least ten minutes I finally stopped by a large pine tree and let out a loud frustrated sound resembling a scream and a grunt. With less thought than would have been needed, I turned sharply and punched the large trunk of the pine tree, feeling the rough bark bite into my knuckles. I took a deep breath and then realized the pain I had just caused myself and cradled my hand against my chest, examining the blood that trickled down onto the back of my hand.

I took another deep breath and let my other hand hover over my injured one. I calmed myself as much as possible and watched as a pale green light emitted from my finger tips and trailed over my knuckles, encased my hand and then disappeared, leaving no trace of my damaged skin. I shook my head and wiped the blood absently on my pants.

What was that guy’s problem? He was getting freaking married and he kept telling me that I was going to fall in love with him! What was he going to do if I actually did fall in love with him? No doubt he’d still get married to his fiancée but what would he have done with me? Just left me somewhere with a broken up heart?

“…Stupid…” I growled to myself, rubbing my hand absently over my face in frustration.

There was a chuckle from the brush behind me and I whirled to face the intruder. From the baritone voice that had sounded, it didn’t seem plausible that it had been Aiden but I preferred to think it was Aiden rather than someone I didn’t know who had a strange sense of humor. “Get out of here,” I ordered, still hoping somewhere deep in my gut that it was Aiden.

“Sorry lass but that won’t be likely of happenin’,” A deep male voice replied, and then I was certain it wasn’t Aiden, which sent a pang of panic through me.

Okay, calm down, whoever he is, you can probably take him, you’re a guard, remember? I told myself, although it didn’t quite keep my legs from shaking.

What made my shaky legs worse was when the guy actually came out of the brush, I wondered how the hell he could have actually hidden in something so small. An orc stood at least six feet, eight inches and looked incredibly intimidating against my mere five feet four inches. Not to mention the unnaturally, rough green skin and the teeth that complimented his overbite in the worst way possible, making him seem like a saber tooth tiger. Then, the broad shoulders made him seem like a moving wall when he took two steps toward me.

“A healer, eh lass?” he asked in his booming voice, “That’ll sell for quite a bit on the market, right boys?”

Boys? I jumped when chortling laughter surrounded me, there were two more orcs that stumbled out of the brush. For creatures so big, they could sure as hell sneak around.

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, I chanted in my head, taking a defensive position, no doubt I couldn’t take three six--almost seven--foot orcs at the same time, hell I’d have a hard enough time with one. “Come near me and you’ll regret it,” I warned, my voice surprisingly calmer than I expected.

“This be a feisty one, eh boss?” One of the other orcs grunted, with the sleaziest, creepiest grin I had ever seen in my entire life.

I swallowed hard, orcs were more than a little threatening to humans, and not just because of their large stature, but they were known for selling any human they found into slavery. They also made up the majority of slaveholders, hence why the trade hadn’t died out. I could run for it, no doubt orcs weren’t very fast.

They had formed a triangle around me, at the moment they were talking to themselves, discussing prices and yet still keeping an eye on me.

“--Three thousand gold at the least.” The leader had been saying when I started listening to their conversation.

I had to do something quick, before they made up their minds and decided to attack. I considered several things that would be a put off to these human sellers, but I finally settled on one.

With a cry of pain I dropped to the ground, I twitched maybe a little more than necessary and then began yelling out nonsense. “Witches…bananas!” I cried with a gasp of pain, wriggling to one side and then the other. Through my vibrating I could see one of the orcs take a step away from me, a disturbed look in his eyes.

Excellent.

I flipped over onto my stomach and began to crawl toward him, not once ceasing my twitching and my grunts of pain, “Help…Fishskin…Me…” I begged, although I could hardly keep from smiling at the horror on the large creature’s face.

“Get away from me!” he cried, kicking at me with his large boot and knocking me in the side of the head.

Okay, that really hurt, and that last cry of pain? That one was real. I held my head for a moment and then remembered my act and rolled onto my back clawing at the air as if someone were trying to grab me, “Don’t touch me!…Ahhh…demons…monsters…good God, kittens!” I shrieked in complete terror. I really should think of becoming a player. “Get them off of me!”

“Boss! There’s somethin’ wrong wit this’un!” One of the other orcs grunted, it was the one that had kicked me in the head.

“We could still sell’er,” the other said reasonably, but sounded no less disgusted than the first.

I almost forgot to cry out in pain for about the twentieth time while they debated, when I heard a familiar voice intervene. “Oh God! Delilah!” Aiden’s voice rang out in worry and he was suddenly at my side. “Honey, look at me, do you see her? God, answer me!” he cried, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me fiercely.

I wailed and threw my legs around so that I kicked him in the side, all part of the act and I got to injure Aiden again, this was turning out rather nicely.

“See who?” one of the orcs demanded, the leader.

Aiden turned his attention away from his side to look at the orc who spoke. “The witch of course, she was given a terrible disease from a witch only two days ago, I fear she might die soon.” Aiden’s voice cracked and he threw his arms over me and rested his head on them, his shoulders shaking as if he were crying. “It…it’s so…contagious, I fear I may not have long either.” He sobbed through his arms.

I twitched again, this time elbowing Aiden in the temple and then rolled several feet away wailing something about purple and pink rainbows strangling me.

“Then how come you ain’t twitching like her?” It was the more logical orc that asked that.

Aiden held out his hands to reveal that they were sticky and red with something that looked like blood, “As long as I have the blood of an innocent on my hands I’m immune for a short while,” he said shakily, his hands trembling before he pulled them back to himself. “Please, you must help us,” he begged moving forward to reach out to one of the orcs.

“Don’t touch me!” The orc shouted, backpedaling several feet before looking to his boss, “Boss, I don’ want nothin’ to do with any witch’s curse!” With that said, he turned and disappeared into the forest, soon followed by the other orc.

With a growl of annoyance the lead orc turned and fled as well.

Just to make sure they didn’t change their minds I twitched a few more times, shrieking about square cherries and begging for help at the top of my lungs.

There was no sign of them, so I sat up, smiling triumphantly. “Genius,” I told myself proudly.

“Of course, you’re talking about me right?” Aiden asked me, standing up and dusting himself off. “I was the one who came up with the ingenious storyline.”

I snorted. “But your acting was terrible, I don’t think you could flop around on the floor like I did, and I set the whole thing in motion,” I replied thoughtfully.

“I’m not sure I’d want to flip around on the ground like that. I thought you were having a seizure when I first showed up,” Aiden scoffed offering me his hand.

I reached out, then hesitated, remembering that I was supposed to be angry with him. Then again, after that bit of teamwork I found it a little more difficult to stay angry with him. Aiden looked hopeful as he kept his hand outstretched toward me, obviously hoping I’d forgotten the reason for my anger.

I grabbed his hand and he pulled me to my feet, and--more abruptly--into a fierce hug. “I’m so glad you’re alright,” he said in a tone that was convincingly sincere.

I pulled away from him, glaring at the innocent look on his face. “Don’t make the mistake of assuming I forgot about your lies,” I said sharply. “If you want any sort of forgiveness I have some conditions.”

Aiden frowned. “You can’t just forgive and forget?” he wondered aloud.

“Not for free,” I replied stubbornly.

He sighed now. “Alright, what are they?”

“Apologize for flirting with me even though you’re engaged,” I demanded.

“Okay, easy enough. I’m sorry, I was an idiot to flirt with you when I’m getting married…although you could understand why, I mean have you seen yoursel--” I cut him off with a wave of my hand.

“Apology accepted. Well, that was the only condition. But, now I think I’m going to go back to Castle Burdock…” I murmured, although I wasn’t exactly ecstatic at the idea of returning to the disappointed face of the general and the scornful looks of my fellow guards.

“What? You can’t go back now!” Aiden argued heatedly, waving his arm through the air in a motion to demonstrate his strife.

“Why not? You’ve got your fiancée to get back to, and what is there for me at Castle Reloir? I should be getting home anyway, I guess the general will be worried about me.” I snorted. “Although I guess the other guards are having a party celebrating my inferred death.”

“That sounds like a pretty miserable life to go back to,” Aiden pointed out softly.

I looked up from the ground to glare at him, “Well I’m sorry I’m not hearing wedding bells and sprinting off to marry the love of my life,” I snapped.

“No, what I meant was, you could come with me still. I mean…I wouldn’t mind having you along, and you could probably find a better position at Castle Reloir, I’ve seen other female guards there and there are always positions open in the army, even for women,” Aiden reasoned.

I looked at him curiously, why was he trying to convince me? “What does it matter to you what I do anyway?”

“I…uh…Well, I’m kind of used to you being around already.” He scratched the back of his head simply for something to do. “It’s nice having someone to talk to during the trip.”

I eyed him suspiciously, “Alright, I’ll keep traveling with you,” I waited until he was done cheering before adding, “but I have more conditions.”

“Aww, come on Angel!” he whined, looking thoroughly put off.

“The only way,” I chimed in reminder.

Aiden pursed his lips and watched me intently as he thought. “Fine, fine, what are they?” Aiden asked grumpily, waiting with his arms across his chest.

“One: Don’t call me Angel.”

“Aw…” he groaned, spinning in a slow annoyed circle then facing me again, “Seriously? But that’s what I call you! Angeline’s just too long, it doesn’t mean anything, promise!” Aiden said in an attempted serious tone.

I rolled my eyes. I suppose I didn’t really mind the name at that point, I actually was starting to get used to it. “Fine, you can call me that, but the other conditions are nonnegotiable.” I waited for Aiden to nod and then continued, “Two: Stay on your side of the line when sleeping. I mean it.” I said sternly.

“You got it Angel.” He winked at me.

“And Three: No flirting with me, winking at me, or trying to kiss me.”

Aiden groaned loudly. “Aww, you aren’t making this any fun. No flirting? I may as well not talk at all,” he grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Even better,” I teased and he looked up, startled at my change in tone.

Aiden grinned. “All conditions have therefore been accepted.” He held out his hand to shake mine.

I shook his hand briefly and he held onto it when I tried to pull mine back, “Seal the deal with a kiss?” He asked with raised brows.

I raised my eyebrows curiously, “You’re already breaking condition three?” I asked, scolding.

He scowled and let go of my hand reluctantly. “Sorry, sorry. I forgot already,” Aiden grumbled with a sigh. “Come on, it’s still at least a week left of walking before we get to Castle Reloir, and since I don’t get to do anything fun, we may as well walk until dark.”

I smiled despite his complaining, I wasn’t sure how long he would be able to keep from flirting and I wouldn’t hold him too tightly against that particular rule, but the other three rules were under heavy watch. If he broke one of them, I’d be gone.

Unless you change your mind, a small voice in my head pointed out.

Pfft. Like that would happen.