[Implied sexual content]
Adara smiled slyly. "Do not hide it; after all, I have always wondered where all the other Dark Elves are hiding." Her voice was impossibly soft, the words barely a whisper.
Vampires were outcasted like the Dark Elves, though perhaps a bit more. Vampires needed blood from living beings, and that freaked out almost everyone so they were thrown aside.
Cecilia's jaw dropped. "Oh. Where are you from then?"
Adara shrugged. "I am from the South-West."
Cecilia frowned at her wording. "You wonder where the Dark Elves are hidin'? Have ya never met another Dark Elf?"
Adara shook her head. "My parents died when I was too young. All I ever found about Dark Elves and Vampires were from books I found."
Cecilia leaned a bit closer to Adara. "How did ya realise I'm a Vampire?"
Adara smiled at her. "You are paler than the palest person I know, and your teeth are sharp. But I was purely guessing, I was just hoping how you responded would give me an indication as to what you were."
Cecilia grinned, her sharp teeth on display. "I thought you were a vampire from how pale ya skin is."
Adara smiled back. "I did make it a bit too pale, did I not?" She looked at her hand that was pressed up against Cecilia's cheek. They were nearly identical. "I just did not want there to be any error on seeing that I am pale."
"Well, darlin'," Cecilia chuckled, "you certainly nailed the pale look. I'd say you're even paler than me. Say, darlin', how did ya end up in here this night?"
Adara smiled even wider, an innocent look to her dark eyes. "I am actually an esteemed guest staying at the Palace of Joy, but I snuck out because their alcohol was not sufficient, and they did not call me 'Young Lady' often enough."
Cecilia laughed loudly. "If there is one thing I realised about you during the card game, is that I should not trust anything coming out of your mouth, Eris."
Adara smiled wordlessly, laughing on the inside at the irony.
And then Cecilia was done with laughing and staring at her with a glint of amusement in her eyes. "What would ya say to a small change of setting?"
Adara's eyebrows raised. "What do you have in mind?"
"The tavern is also an inn," Cecilia explained. "There are a few bedrooms upstairs."
Adara smiled widely. "I certainly harbour no objections to such a proposition."
Cecilia rolled her eyes. "You with your fancy gold pouches and gold words. Is that a yes or no? If it's a no we can just sit here and talk the night away, you don't need to say yes."
Adara leaned in, setting a soft kiss on Cecilia's lips. "Yes. It is a very big yes."
Cecilia smiled at that. "I'm hopin' you can kiss rougher than that, or else this night might be a tad too much for ya."
Adara raised an eyebrow at the challenge, a grin on her lips. "You want me to scandalise the whole tavern?" she asked, repeating what Cecilia had told her a couple hours ago.
Cecilia shook her head. "Of course not. I'd much rather you scandalise me alone."
Adara smiled at the comment. Standing up suddenly. Cecilia followed suit, both of them making their way to the creaky wooden staircase leading up to the bedrooms.
Gromm looked up as they got up, giving Adara a small wink when he got a hang of what they were planning to do. He then turned to the player who was talking to him, asking him if he wanted an alliance. "Not a chance," he responded flatly.
But as they passed the bar, the bartender glanced up when Adara stopped by him, setting a pouch of gold in front of him. Smiling, she explained, "For the table back there. If Gromm wins, give him the gold and let him decide what he would like to do. Say it was from Eris."
The old bartender nodded. "Aye, ma'am."
Cecilia raised an eyebrow. "How many pouches do you have left?"
Adara shrugged. "Enough to pay for the night we are about to spend in the room."
Cecilia tugged at Adara's hand, smiling at her answer, wanting to get up the stairs faster. Adara followed along, intertwining their hands again. Cecilia's hand was cool against hers, her skin smooth. Cecilia was caressing Adara's hand slowly, making her hurry up on the stairs. Now Adara was pulling Cecilia up the stairs.
Adara thought there were too many stairs, and Cecilia was too close to her, breathing purposefully on her neck.
Finally, they reached the top of the stairs, where a few doors stood. Adara almost fell through one of the open ones because Cecilia's hand was on her waist, pulling her inside.
Before Adara even processed the room, how many windows there were and how high up they were, she was pressed against a dressing drawer with Cecilia kissing her roughly. Adara kissed back just as roughly.
It was barely the beginning of the day; the stars were still up in the sky, shining down on all those underneath it. In the silvery light of the stars filtering through the window, a certain dark-skinned elf was putting on her belt.
Cecilia, still in the bed, wrapped in the blanket, was frowning. "Don't go."
"I wish I could stay." Adara took a look at her. Cecilia's ashy blonde hair was messed up, and her lips were red and swollen. Adara would have very much liked to stay. "But as I said, I am expected at the palace," she joked, looking into the mirror to observe her neck.
Cecilia bit her a few times.
A few times might be a bit of an understatement; Adara's whole neck was covered in hickeys and bites.
She didn't specifically want them to heal yet. She didn't want to erase every trace of Cecilia so quickly.
"You should keep them," Cecilia's voice came from behind her. "Looks good on ya."
"Right?" Adara said, craning her neck to see them better. "Imagine what outrage there would be if I did not bother to hide them?"
Cecilia hmphed from the bed. "You should stay so I can give you more."
Adara laughed, buttoning up her shirt. "That might have to be an offer I will pass up. I do need to get going, or else everyone will start wondering where I have gone."
"Adara~."
Adara's fingers stopped buttoning up her shirt.
Cecilia watched her through the mirror, knowing she got her attention now. "Please don't go. Stay. For one more round?"
Adara turned around, watching the hopeful Vampire still in the bed. "How did you figure it out?" Her fingers were buttoning again.
Cecilia deflated, annoyed that Adara was definitely not going to come back into the bed. "It hit me when ya ditched the necklace, the one with the three hoops."
Well, Adara intended to keep the necklace on, but Cecilia scratched at the necklace and her back until she took it off, saying she looked better as a Dark Elf.
Cecilia continued. "Suddenly, ya went from Eris to looking like Adara Thornwin. For the record, you look more like Adara Thornwin as a Dark Elf than as someone pale. Your scars are a dead giveaway as well, and then there's also that odd silver tattoo on your chest that resembles a shield. And then I realised you didn't lie about being an esteemed guest at the Palace."
Adara raised an eyebrow at her wording. "I looked like Adara Thornwin? Did you see me at the Plaza, then?" She certainly hadn't seen her, but that was to be expected. Adara hadn't exactly been on the lookout for pretty people to hook up with at that time.
Cecilia nodded earnestly. "You looked very holy with that shield." — Adara rolled her eyes— and Cecilia broke into a grin. "But you look holier with my love bites marking your neck."
Adara chuckled. "That is what these are, then? Love bites? It looks like I have been mauled by a rabid beast."
Cecilia shrugged. "Call me a rabid beast all ya want, darlin'; at least I left a mark on ya."
Adara raised an eyebrow playfully. "Wait, fuck, do not tell me there is some mating ritual attached to biting someone's neck."
Cecilia looked at her with all the seriousness in the world. "If a Vampire bites someone else's neck, it means they are forever bonded with them. So, you're practically married to me right now."
"You have got to be kidding me."
"I am," Cecilia said, bursting out laughing at her face. Once she calmed down, Cecilia explained, "Biting someone's neck has no significance, just that the person's blood tastes nice."
"Well, my blood must taste excellent." Adara looked at all the love bites littering her neck. "I wonder what it must taste like to you; to me, it's just rusty."
Cecilia made an indifferent noise. "I've forgotten what it tastes like. I think I need another taste to tell you anything."
Adara laughed at her, putting her sun pendant on, the one she shoved into her pocket before she left.
Cecilia stared at the woman that was now across from her. She... looked like the person she had shared the night with. A bit. She still had the love bites on her neck, all the hickeys as well. She still had the scars, but she did not have the ears. She looked like Adara Thornwin.
For a second, Cecilia could not believe she fucked a Noble. But then again, she couldn't believe there were Nobles who hid their identities to stay with the common folk for a drink or ten. And—. No. She still couldn't believe she fucked a Noble.
And one of the ones that everyone was talking about, since she saved the Plaza and everything.
Cecilia knew of Adara Thornwin. Knew of her plenty. There was quite not a single place on the Western Continent where there were no rumours of Adara Thornwin. And there was no place like the Underworld.
But when Cecilia said she wanted her to stay, she meant it. With her other hookups, she never asked them to stay. Usually, she was the first to leave. But here she was, asking Adara for another round.
Cecilia wondered what that said about her.
She wondered what it was about Adara that was different. It was certainly not the fact she was a Noble. That was definitely not it.
Something had drawn her in even before she knew the pale person she met in the tavern was Adara Thornwin. She remembered looking up as soon as she walked into the taven. Cecilia thought she looked terrifyingly beautiful, with pale skin, dark hair, and eyes. Cecilia almost missed her turn because of how hard she was staring at the fancy person who was ordering some wine.
There was something so sweet about her, though Cecilia couldn't pinpoint it. And then she was walking to their table. A few moments later, she was sitting in between her and Gromm. Cecilia couldn't help but lean in closer; she just wanted to be near her, just to smell that intoxicating sweet scent.
And then Eris was looking up at her, full of mischievousness and slyness, something so disarming with that sweet smell surrounding her. Her words were sharp, carrying a sort of Noble-like formality while not being uptight or soft. She took swigs out of her expensive wine bottle, wiping her mouth on her sleeve, but her back was straight and gave off a sense of poise. It was all quite disarming.
That was a word to describe Eris—Adara.
Disarming.
Everything about her was disarming. She looked at you with all honesty on her face, spouting lies without blinking. She would pretend to be a beginner just to play a calculated move. She would smile sweetly, as she played a deadly card that let her win the game instantly.
Even if Cecilia hadn't been caught up in that sweet scent, she knows she would have been just as drawn into her as she was.
It made quite a lot of sense that she was Adara Thornwin; Cecilia wasn't even surprised.
She had first seen Adara Thornwin in person when she was in the crowd of the Plaza, waiting for the King to arrive. Well, Cecilia did not quite care about the King, but she was there with Gromm because he wanted to go. So she was simply staring at the Nobles, playing a guessing game with Gromm to try and figure out which Noble was which since they all looked the same in their fancy clothes.
They came in with a few others. Gromm first saw Cale. "Ah, that's that one Henituse for sure; he's the only one with red hair. Cale, I think his name was. And next to him has to be—." Gromm had broken off in his sentence when he had taken a good look at Adara.
And Cecilia felt her breath get taken away as well.
She was in a dark red dress, her hair done fancily. She wore very little jewellery and had no excessive intricacy to her outfit. She looked so out of place standing next to one of the other Nobles with dark brown hair and a fancy suit. The Noble was talking to her, though she was looking around more intently than she was listening.
And as Adara looked around, her eyes seemingly met Cecilia's. Though Cecilia knew she didn't actually look at her. She was just looking around.
But Cecilia just could not take her eyes off of Adara Thornwin. With her red dress and her scarred face. Cecilia thought she looked beautiful. She had heard so much shit thrown at Adara, petty remarks that she would have the prettiest without those dreadful scars, but Cecilia disagreed. She looked prettier with them.
Maybe her scars didn't conform to the neat and clean image that Nobles upheld so persistently, but to Cecilia, who lived with the dirt and the grit that came with the Underworld, she thought Adara was a perfect mix in between.
And then she was holding up that shield, basking in the glowing silver light of the holy shield, with its silver wings protecting everyone. And Cecilia could not believe that she was a Noble.
Cecilia never had a good experience with a Noble. They never saw her and her friends as if they were human, why should she see them as anything else except arrogant and ignorant? But then she saw Adara fall to the ground, blood pouring out of her mouth.
And this beautiful Noble, who had sacrificed her body for the people in the Plaza that day, had her bites on her neck. Adara Thornwin, now known by a very different nickname compared to the 'trash' she was called before, had spent the night with her.
And now she was leaving her.
And Cecilia did not want her to go.
So she started up the conversation again. "How many people know you're a Dark Elf?"
Adara shook her head. "Not a lot. I am only half, but there would be a big outrage if anybody found out. I guess you are the first one I revealed it to so fast."
Cecilia felt nice at that revelation. She liked the sound of that.
And then Adara looked at her. "The only reason your memory has not been erased is because we are in the same boat."
Cecilia understood it. She had to take precautions, seeing as the Church of the Sun would press very hard to have her killed if they found out, but it still hurt. In almost spite, Cecilia responded, "I think it might just be easier to kill me; after all, erasing my memory is a mage's spell."
Adara paused again, turning around to stare at Cecilia. That comment was too casual, too calculated, she knew something—.
"The Underworld spreads some pretty vicious rumours," Cecilia added.
I did not just fuck an assassin, Adara thought, about to curse the God of Death out until the heavens. "Are you an assassin?"
Cecilia looked stricken. "Gods, no! I just sell Milk of the Poppy to those who don't have a prescription."
Adara calmed down. Well, that is better than an assassin. "Go to the Temple of Death, tell them I sent you; I will make sure to send a letter to make sure they do not think you are lying. They have a great garden of Night Poppies, with a bunch half-grown. They will let you take some of them, no questions asked. Take it as my gratitude for all these love bites."
Cecilia laughed at that. But Adara was now fully dressed, on her way out the door. She stopped when she passed the bed Cecilia was still in.
Leaning down, she gave Cecilia one last kiss.
Cecilia had a hand around her neck, another one in her hair pulling her down. She could feel Adara's blood pumping underneath her hand, the warmth radiating off of her. She just wanted to bite into her again, to taste her blood one last time.
Holding Adara's neck a bit tighter, Cecilia bit Adara's lip, making the taste of blood join in their kiss.
And then they separated, but by all the gods, was it worth it because Adara looked even hotter as she stared down at her with blood dripping from her grinning lips. "And?" She was absolutely beautiful in the silver light of the stars, like a goddess. "What does my blood taste like?"
Cecilia's breath was blown away. "Sweet."
It was still dark as Adara walked back, sticking to the shadows. She should have stayed with Cecilia. It was cold outside, and every muscle in her body was in pain.
She wanted to stop and sit down, falling asleep on the street, but she knew it would be a bad idea to stop walking. She could have reached the Palace by now if she had run at full speed. But, again, her body was sore from the night she spent with Cecilia and running would only make it worse.
She felt at ease in the quiet of the night. She chose this route specifically so none of the Knights would see her. It would blow her cover if a knight saw the 'esteemed guest' of the Palace wandering the streets at night.
It was a fun night, she had a lot of fun. Gromm was nice, Cecilia was amazing, the card game was interesting, and she wished she had waited to win the game just to play a bit longer. She didn't get drunk, but tipsy was enough to quiet the chaos in her mind. Or enough to soften it.
All she wanted now was to get to Cale. Now that she could think clearly, she was ashamed she had just left Cale like that. She should have asked him to come along. Or she not have gone.
She was suddenly second-guessing herself.
Should I have gone?
It felt... nice when I went.
But was it the right choice?
Should I have gone?
Did it help with any of my problems?
It did not.
So I should not have gone in the first place.
Shouldn't I have? Adara wondered. It was fun. That... helped with some of the problems, didn't it?
She was more sober now, and she was asking herself questions.
But, it didn't, she realised. It didn't help with any of my problems. The letters still need to be written, and now I need to write another one. The reports still need to be reviewed, and I still need to answer them. The problem of feeling well is not a problem. This night did not help with any of that. So I should not have gone.
She sighed, wishing she had a bottle of wine to still her mind.
And then, she was walking along the street when she felt a sudden nagging pain in her shoulder.
There was someone else on this street with her.
And they were glaring daggers into her.