Kingdom of Deception

Chapter 10

10

Harley stood outside the door to the infirmary. She knew Nox would not be happy for having to wait on her, so she needed to be quick. But that depended entirely on how cooperative Dustin would be. So she took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself before she opened the door and stepped inside. Most of the beds were empty since there had been no recent battles, but as she went further into the room, Dustin was found seated upon one of the beds with two other members of their team. The three of them seemed to be playing some sort of game, a game that was paused as she approached them and all eyes turned on her. The other two men seemed friendly enough, while Dustin stared at her with daggers for eyes. "Oh look, a bitch," he said with disdain. Harley crossed her arms with an unreadable expression, "Oh look, a weak ass. You know, if an ass is weak, they're useless to the farmer." Dustin growled, "What the hell do you want?"

Now she could get down to business. "I need to speak with you in private," she replied and looked at the other two. They exchanged glances at Dustin, silently asking if he wanted to be left alone with her. And after a few lengthy moments, Dustin nodded, and the two left. Dustin started to gather up the cards and neatly stack them together as he asked again, "What do you want, Harley? It better be important."

"I have a deal to offer you."

"Not interested," Dustin quickly answered, and he set the cards on the table beside his bed. Not once did he even look up at her as they spoke. But Harley pressed, "You will be interested in this one once you hear what I have to offer." Dustin finally looked at her with complete annoyance. It was clear to her that he was not in the mood for their conversation. Or, he just wasn't in the mood for her to be near him. Then again, when was he ever happy whenever she was around. "And why is that?" he inquired sharply. Harley shifted her weight to one leg as she went on, "Because what I'm offering is a way out of the duel, and freedom from owing me anything for saving your life." Dustin blinked at her, his expression not changing. For a second he averted his eyes in consideration. Then, he sighed and laid back on his bed with his arms behind his head as he leaned against the wall. "Fine, what's the deal?"

Harley had to resist a grin once she knew she had him interested. She knew he couldn't resist if it meant he wouldn't owe her anything. Which, she couldn't care less about. She just needed out of the duel. She couldn't afford to have it ruin her promotion or her reputation. She wasn't against playing dirty, but she didn't want others to know about it. "I have a debt to pay to Major Nox, and I need help doing it. If you do this, you will be free from owing me anything ever again and we won't have to worry about either of us dying in a messy duel." He sneered, "Major Nox, huh? What the hell could you possibly owe him? You already fuck him." Harley blinked at him with surprise, her face becoming hot. Dustin laughed, "Look at you, turning red like some school girl. Yeah, I already knew there was something going on with you two between the sheets. Why else could he possibly want to help you like he does?"

"My relationship with Major Nox is more...complicated. But that doesn't matter. It's no concern of yours anyway," Harley snapped as if to hide her embarrassment. Dustin threw his hands up in surrender, "Fine. I couldn't care less who you sleep with. I was just letting you know that you two haven't been as sneaky as you thought." Harley sighed and furrowed her brow with frustration. "Do you want to know my terms or not?" She couldn't understand why he even brought up the subject of who her lover was. It was completely unnecessary and irrelevant. "Go on," said Dustin as he waved for her to continue. So she did, "I need you to find me a Faerie hunter, and help me to find a Faerie heart." Dustin sprung up with wide eyes and a furrowed brow. "Whoa, whoa, pause right there. Why the hell do you want a Faerie heart?" he asked with disbelief and a tad bit of concern. She was certain that after his first encounter with a Faerie he wanted nothing to do with the forbidden forest ever again.

"I don't," Harley began. "Major Nox does. It's what I owe him for covering my ass. In fact, he covered both our asses. If it wasn't for him, then we would have been imprisoned for using a Faerie tonic. I would be dead for using it, and you would be dead for owning it."

"Shit," Dustin quietly cursed as he ran a hand through his silky brown hair. "How did he even know that I had one? I didn't tell anyone," he asked. Harley lowered her voice and her chin as she replied, "He has his ways. Just know that from now on, it's safest not to have anything like that again." Dustin slowly nodded in agreement. It seemed it was sinking in just how much trouble he could have gotten himself into. If Nox hadn't been willing to help them, then someone else would have found out at some point. "But we could use that to our advantage," Harley added. Dustin lifted a brow at her and she went on to explain, "Whoever you got that tonic from might know where to find a Faerie hunter. One was needed to get the ingredients for the tonic after all." Dustin seemed to consider it. "Do you still have connections with your supplier?" she inquired further.

Dustin sighed and lowered his voice so no one else would overhear, "He's a merchant from a neighboring kingdom that I met in the bar. I don't know if he's still around or not. Merchants normally don't stay for very long." Harley frowned, "How long ago did you buy the tonic from him?"

Dustin shrugged, "I'm not sure. A couple weeks at most. I had just gotten it right before our Captain...er, Commander Dent arrived." Harley's heart sunk. There was no chance the merchant would still be in town. She supposed that idea was down the drain. Finding a Faerie hunter was going to be extremely difficult to do. "However," Dustin suddenly continued. Harley looked back at him. "I do know of a rumor that's been going around the bar, a rumor that there's a witch in town. If it proves to be true, she may be getting some supplies from smugglers. She may be able to provide us with a supplier that knows where we can find some hunters." A witch. In town. Harley wondered how such a rumor could be going around without any arrests being made. Unless no one took it seriously. The ramblings of drunkards couldn't always be trusted. "I guess it's worth a shot," Harley said with a heavy sigh. It was their only lead.

Dustin furrowed his brow at her as he laid back onto his bed again, "When exactly do we need to do this?"

"As soon as you're recovered, because I will need you at full strength when we go Faerie hunting," Harley replied. "I will speak with Nox about our plan and see if he can cover our absence for us." Dustin slowly blinked as he was silent for a few moments. Then, he added quietly, "It seems both of us will be owing him much more than just a Faerie heart." She knew he was right. Asking another favor from him meant he would want something in return. But she could handle this one. She just needed to give him what he usually wanted. A night of unbridled and selfish passion. "Don't worry about that," she assured Dustin. "Major Nox and I have an understanding. I will handle whatever he may want in return." Dustin frowned, his eyes looking her up and down before meeting her eyes. He knew exactly what she was thinking. But instead of teasing her about it, he seemed very displeased. Perhaps he didn't approve of her methods. Either way, she didn't care. As long as it got them what they needed.

"If that's all, I would like to rest now," said Dustin as he made himself comfortable, turning his back to her and laying on his side. And with that, Harley left.

~

Hello! I'm sad to say that this chapter is more on the shorter side, not quite as long as I would like it to be. But it seemed to be a good spot to end it, and whatever else I could think of to add was just completely unnecessary, so I decided not to add it. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it! Feel free to leave a comment and vote if you liked it!