Sable

They had the cover of night over them, though Sable wasn't sure whether or not they needed. It wasn't like they were being held prisoner in the village, but she did wonder if people would think it odd, if they saw the two leaving without Akeem. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding when they reached the tunnel.

"So this place really does have glowing walls," Conor said as they made their way through. "I thought it was all hallucinations from the blood high."

"They're enchanted aquamarines," Sable said. "Akeem told me that they are what's keeping the tunnel from collapsing under the weight of the river."

"Akeem," Conor sighed. "What a ridiculous name."

"I'm sure it means something really cool," Sable rolled her eyes. "What's with the two of you?"

"We've never really gotten along very well," Conor sighed. "It's like we're in some kind of competition about who's the manliest man. Like you said before: too much testosterone."

"You can say that again," Sable muttered under her breath.

The glowing stones made the tunnel pretty bright at night, and Sable wondered how the village remained so hidden due to that. Maybe there was another illusion in place that she wouldn't be able to see until they were on the other side of the tunnel.

Excitement made her heart pump harder, and she knew Conor could hear it, as they exited the tunnel. They walked a couple of feet away from it before Sable turned back around to look at it. The glowing stones weren't visible from the outside there; Sable smiled triumphantly.

"What is it?" Conor asked her. She turned back toward him and smiled at him.

"Oh, nothing," she said. "My theory was right, is all. Makes me feel like I won or something."

"Theory?" Conor raised an eyebrow.

"Look back," Sable said pointing back toward the tunnel. "When we're up close, we can see all of the glowing aquamarine at the entrance- and it's pretty bright, right? Like a beacon you should be able to see from far away. So... we should still be able to see it, because we're not really too much further away from the entrance than before. But we can't! So they have some massive protection spell, or something, in place."

Conor rolled his eyes and took her gently by the arm. He pulled her gently along.

"Come on, we have a lot of ground to cover," he said. Sable nodded her head.

Literally five minutes after having said that Conor froze in place. Sable ran into his back from how sudden his stop was.

"Hey, what the heck?" Sable exclaimed. Then she spoke in a much quieter voice and braced herself. "Is there something dangerous nearby again?"

"No, I just recognize this part of the forest is all," Conor said. He began walking again and Sable followed after him. "We really don't have much ground to cover at all, after all."

"Oh, well, that's odd," Sable shrugged. She chewed on her lip again. "But it works, I guess. Still don't know why they'd have the sacred village so close by..."

Conor laughed at that. Suddenly though Sable felt very exposed. She knew the reason that she was in the back was because she was unfamiliar with the land, but that didn't stop her from feeling unsafe. Sable grabbed Conor's hand and held onto it tightly. Conor gave her a reassuring squeeze.

It wasn't too long before they heard marching, and Conor had pulled her off to the side and into a ditch hidden within the bushes. They stayed there until the marching had become a faint echo off in the distance.

"Were those-" Sable started.

"Finnian's men," Conor finished for her in a whisper. "And pretty close by the castle, as well as our friend Akeem's village."

"Please, we can trust Akeem," Sable rolled her eyes at Conor for what had probably been the hundredth time by then. "He's my familiar- he's literally bound by a contract, and a mark on his arm, to protect me. Now stop trying to make stabs at him. It's really getting on my nerves."

"Alright," Conor sighed. He placed his hand on the small of Sable's back. "Come on, let's get moving again- before they come back. They were definitely patrolling."

"You don't think we could have handled them?" Sable asked as they climbed back out of the ditch. "There were only five of them; they just had loud footsteps in that armour is all."

"We could have," Conor shrugged his shoulders. "It just would have been a hassle. I can feel it: the time to assemble the army is now. There is a great window of opportunity open, and I want to seize it before it disappears."

"Oh," Sable said.

Conor peeked out of the bushes to make sure they were clear before holding his hand out to help Sable along. Sable looked around after, and then Conor led the way again.

Within half an hour even Sable had started to recognize the area of the woods that they were in. A smile formed on her lips, and she squeezed Conor's hand. He looked down at their hands, and Sable wondered if he had forgotten they were even holding hands, and let out a sigh.

"Reassuring," Conor said. He ran his thumb over the back of her hand. "Haven't had anyone this close to me before- even though we're still pretty much strangers."

"I'd say we've been through a lot together," Sable said. "And we've come to know each other in some pretty high-stress situations. I know you'd take pretty good care of me. And hopefully not just because I'm the reincarnation of a very important goddess. Hopefully we're friends?"

Conor stopped walking. Sable came to a stop with him, staring intently up at his face. There was an unreadable expression there; she hoped it wasn't a bad thing.

When Conor finally looked up at her, there was surprise on his face. The piercing in his lip looked out of place as they expression was so child-like- innocent. Sable's eyebrows furrowed as she wondered what the look was for.

"Friends," he said simply. Sable nodded her head and her expression softened. A slow smile spread over his face, which Sable returned.

"Yes; friends," Sable told him. "You don't even have to- what? What's wrong?"

The smile had fallen from his face, and had been replaced by a very serious expression. Conor let go of her hand and then cupped her face in both of his hands. Sable's eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to speak, but he had covered her mouth with his.

It was a gentle kiss that only lasted about half a minute. Sable was breathless even so when Conor pulled back, and her heart was pounding louder than ever before in her ears. Warmth came to her cheeks.

"Friends," Conor whispered. "For now."

Sable chewed on her lower lip as Conor took her hand again and led her along once more. Surely then he could sense how she was feeling toward him.

Calm down, she thought. You haven't known each other long. But she could still find him wildly attractive, right?