The Rapier

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Stealing a gold noble from a greedy fish seller was easy enough. Elena protested of course, but I pointed out that the noble would be going to a better cause than buying old fish to sell at a higher price to lazy people who wouldn't go out and gather food for themselves.

"And what cause is that?" she asked, one hand on her hip.

"The cause of buying us a warm place to sleep tonight," I replied with a wink. I pulled her through the crowded marketplace towards an inn and tavern called the Black Swan. Surely in accordance with the unspoken code of Black, the inn would be friendly to a marooned pirate and her friend.

The code of Black was more tradition than anything, a set of rules for the disreputable thieves of the realm. It was enough, along with the noble, to buy an overheated room on the second floor overlooking the market. I threw open the window to allay the heat and then promptly shut it, deciding the heat was better than the smell. Elena collapsed happily on the bed, a small smile on her face at the comfort. I turned from the window to her, and drew my rapier with a flourish.

"It's much too late to kill me, now," Elena said with her eyes closed.

"Let's cut your hair," I replied. Her eyes popped open and hands shot up to her beautiful hair as if to save it from the wrath of my sword.

"Never," she responded, running slender fingers through tawny tresses.

Her hair would be the death of me. Either that, or the rapier in my hands.

"Lads don't have manes like that," I reasoned, sinking down onto the mattress beside her. "Besides, it'll grow back."

"You expect me to wear mine short like yours?" she asked, reaching out and twisting a ringlet of mine around her finger. "I don't think I'll look half as dashing as you do."

I rolled onto my side with a grimace at the pain in my arm. "Fine. Leave it be," I acquiesced, sharply. The pain was too much to continue our witty dance. She saw in my face my discomfort and sat up, pushing me down onto my back.

"I need to redress this," she motioned for me to raise my hands, and pulled my ruined shirt up over my head, discarding it on the floor beside the bed. The bandage was soaked through with blood, and smarted to the touch. "I'm going to get clean water."

I laid back on the bed awaiting her return, staring up at the low ceiling without seeing it. Although she hadn't said it, I could tell that she was wary to turn me in for the reward. I was confident of my ability to escape the prisons, but still as always it was a risk, and if I could not escape I would surely be hanged, and Elena left without anyone in the world. It was a wonder she hadn't broken down in tears yet at the shambles of her life. I hoped to keep her too busy to cry, tears on any woman's face the last thing I wanted to see.

Elena came back a while later followed by two men who balanced a tub of water between them. I sat up in shock, wondering how she had procured such a treat. She instructed them to set it down and promised to pay them handsomely come dinner time. I smirked to see her work her charms.

"Get in," she motioned towards the tub. I frowned.

"I'm much too big for that," I protested, already feeling stupid. She pulled off my boots and pants, instructing me to use the water for my arm first and then myself.

"You know as well as I do it's important to be clean," she fussed about as I stood in the lukewarm water filled tub. At least it was too hot in our room for the cold water to be uncomfortable. I washed the sand and soap from my body, silently thankful to be clean once more. Elena followed suit after me, falling naked into the bed once again beside me, drying in the sweltering heat of the afternoon. "Let your arm breathe," she instructed. I obeyed the good doctors orders in silence, turning to press my lips to hers.