The whiskey lit Iris's throat in a wild burn, blazing a path all the way down to her belly. It was like the rogue had swallowed liquid fire. She couldn't help but cough at the suddenness of the sting. The two men --who Hench had introduced as Brawler and Cane just a few minutes earlier-- snorted at how her face puckered. Kayde watched with a bit of a cool smirk, and Hench was simply gauging her... testing her.
Iris gasped after it was down. Hench drank this stuff?
For whatever god-forsaken reason Iris's mentor enjoyed this, the rogue decided that Hench was made of tough shit, through and through. Everyone was silent --as if they were waiting on something to happen. After a bit, it did. A sort of warm, fuzzy feeling ignited in her chest. It was hardly noticeable at first... but it grew rapidly in her belly as the minute went on. Other than that, though, the drink did nothing.
"I see." Iris's tongue moved over her top lip, removing the last of the drink from its surface.
Hench poured another sip into Iris's tankard far before she could even recover from the first taste. Hench's eyebrows raised slightly before she spoke again, but otherwise, her face held no emotion. "Drink."
Iris braced herself better this time... and found that the whiskey went down only a morsel better than it had the first time. This time, it left behind a slight tingle in her throat. The rogue's brown eyes stared directly into Hench's throughout this one. The woman took note of Iris's confidence, and one corner of her mouth turned up ever so slightly.
Hench dispensed more liquid flames into the iron cup. "Drink."
Iris did. This time it was three large gulps. Same sensation. And afterward, Hench finally put the bottle of spirits down, satisfied.
Everyone's eyes were intent on Iris for the next few minutes as they talked amongst themselves. Iris could swear that Kayde's grin amplified with each passing moment. They looked like they were waiting for something, but what that something was, Iris had no idea. She almost asked them. Something happened before she could. Oh. Oh. The floor fell right out from underneath her.
The room went right into a spin, leaving Iris grasping at the table for stability. Oh gods... oh gods. Amused faces spiraled in front of her eyes, one at a time. Iris wondered through her sudden spell why they weren't panicking. The room was... it was... what was it doing, again? Everything went completely still. Blurry... but still. Just stopped. Voices came from all around her --so many voices. But what were they saying?
Iris could hear and she couldn't hear at the same time. The noises were there but they were so muffled, the rogue couldn't make out anything. Except for laughter...
Laughter...
Laughter?
LAUGHTER!
Oh gods, yes! Laughter! Iris wanted to--had to join! And she did. The laughter got louder! What was so funny? She didn't know. But whatever it was --it was so damned funny! And damn it all, she laughed as loud as the others. She wanted them to see that she was happy too, and oh how she loved being happy.
She found a face... a face she knew. Kayde. He was joyful too. Oh! He was laughing with her. She made eye contact, trying to figure out what he was on about. Iris knew what she was so amused at --wait, no she didn't. It didn't matter. She didn't find any trace of what the source might be in the guardian's eyes...
Had his eyes always been so green?
Iris stared hard into them, suddenly finding herself lost in a vast and verdant field of fresh-spring grass. It was then that she decided she'd always like the color of the countryside in early spring --light green just barely tinged with yellow. That was the color of his eyes.
Iris then remembered the days of her childhood, when she used to skip through the family orchards. She would play and sing with the birds while she picked apples and cherries with her mother. Where were the birds now? She looked around for them, finding no trace of the whistles that marked her younger years. None at all. Iris panicked all of the sudden at their absence. She needed to find the birds again. And damn it, she was going to find them now. Iris all but jumped from the table to begin her newly-discovered quest, and she readied her first course of action. Which was what, exactly? Right! She had to sing --sing like she used to!
And perhaps skip! Bloody hell, that was it! She'd find them in no time!
And she began to skip. Iris made it about five feet before a strong hand pulled her backwards. She turned to face the one who had grabbed her and found Kayde again, with his eyes of seed-time and his wispy grin.
"Whoa, stay here, dear girl."
Stay here? Stay here? Where was here? Wait; who was this again?
"I need to..." she slurred. She had to let him know. "I need to go."
"You need to stay right here," the man with the beautiful eyes told her, hand still holding her firmly in her place.
"You don't understand." Iris wavered. "I need to... need find the... the birds. Have to need --find the birds again." He still only smiled at her and she knew he didn't understand why she had to go. And then --she didn't understand anymore. Oh gods, the world was spinning again. Did it do this often? Oh gods, she was going to be sick.
Vomit. Everything was bitter and sour.
Then it was black.
----
Iris woke up the next morning feeling like bloody hell. Her brain throbbed madly in her skull and the taste of acid still lingered in her mouth. The rogue felt so bad, she decided she couldn't even open her eyes yet. Something just told her the sun was going to murder her temples even further if she dared look at it. Her body was hot all over, except for her head. In fact, her forehead was cool and very damp.
She thought it was sweat for a second, but soon realized a soft, wet cloth was being dragged across her skin. Iris dared to open her eyes. She was laying in her assigned living quarters. The curtains were drawn but she could still make out a figure sitting right at her bedside. Iris blinked a couple of times, trying to see through the thick haze of her exhaustion.
Iris tried her best to sit up, but a hand simply kept her laying down.
"Relax, dear girl. Breakfast doesn't start for another hour and a half."
Her vision cleared. "Kayde, what are you doing here?"
"What do I appear to be doing?" he remarked, not unkindly and yet not looking for a response. He answered his own question. "I am taking care of you, of course. That is what we guardians do for each other, after all. You were in rough shape last night, Iris. Very rough shape, indeed."
Iris lifted herself up on her elbows and met his face the best she could.
"Were you here all night?" she asked.
Kayde shook his head and pulled the cold cloth over her forehead again. Iris relished in its sensation as he answered her question. "Not all night. Hench and I alternated for the most part. Both of us were concerned with your health after just how much you threw up. I've been here for three hours this morning. Luckily, you haven't vomited since about two hours ago. You seem to be stabilizing, and I hope you're able to eat when breakfast-time begins."
"What did I drink?"
Kayde laughed a little. "Whiskey, dear girl... or don't you remember?"
"What is whiskey?" Iris asked, "I don't think I've ever had something quite like that. Not even ale."
"Strong." His answer was simple but satisfactory. "I suggest you take it a little bit slower next time. If there is a next time, that is."
"There won't be." The heavy throbbing in Iris's temples gave her reason to believe she'd learned her lesson and then more. She would never drink whiskey again if Iris had any say in it. With both of her hands, she squeezed the back of her head as if it would relieve the pain.
Kayde seemed to take note of her hands and put his rag down. Without a word, he lit a candle on her bedside table and then placed two fingers over her temples and began to gently rub them. Iris could have worshiped him for it... gods, it helped her headache tremendously. She watched him as he methodically massaged her head. It was then that she noticed the subtle darkness under his eyes. He hadn't gotten much sleep.
"You're tired," she commented. "Why don't you get some sleep, Kayde? Do not overwork yourself for the sake of my comfort."
"I will," he told her. "After breakfast. My next assigned mission isn't for another week. You, on the other hand, have training and meditation with Hench straight after breakfast. You must go... no matter how bad you feel. Heed my words, girl, you need to be nothing short of ready when you face your Guardian trials."
"My what?"
"Guardian trials," he answered. "At the end of your six months, you will be faced with three trials specially designed for you. In the time you train with Hench, she will watch you, Iris. She will gauge you for your biggest weaknesses and give you three tests based on what she finds. Hench will find what absolutely breaks you down inside and she will try to break you with it. You can't break, Iris... or you don't get in. In this field, you have to be a guardian above all else. You have to be willing to face anything to protect what is good in this world."
"And what are my weaknesses?" she asked, voice barely above a whisper.
"Only time will tell," Kayde told her. "I figure that's why Hench had you drink last night. She was either testing your resolve by seeing if you'd show up to lessons today... or she was testing your intellect by seeing if you'd drink without asking questions first. Or maybe she was testing you to see if you had knowledge of your limits. Perhaps all three, even. Or perhaps she just wanted you to drink with her since you are her trainee. Who knows?"
Now Iris felt like shit. These six months were going to be hard.
"What were your weaknesses?" she finally asked after a few long moments of consideration. "What were your trials?"
Kayde laughed a little. "The first was a test of my cleverness --my ability to think on the spot. I used to not be much good at quick-thinking. Hench told you about that test... the one that gave me my moniker. I fought against my mentor, of which I had no hope of defeating hand-to-hand. I was certain I couldn't win by force of strength, either. I made a decision to play dead in hopes I'd catch him off guard --and I did. I am grateful the boy was a bit daft. It was by far the easiest test of the three."
He paused for a second to catch his breath.
"The second was a bit different --at the beginning, I thought it was a test of perseverance. It hurt my body like hell, but it was nothing compared to the mind-games they play on some of the initiates. I had that in mind when I began. They had me do an obstacle course --an obstacle course that lasted for miles and miles. I had limited time to get it done, so I had to be fast. And some of the leaps and tasks in the course were the hardest I'd ever done. Some required everything I had. It was at the end when I realized that it was actually a test of will. For the minute I celebrated my finish, they told me to turn around and do it again. Immediately. The guardians did that to me five times before they'd decided I'd passed the trial. On my fifth run-though, I'd wondered if I'd run forever. I almost gave up."
"What was your last?" the rogue asked, her voice soft. How could they torment one's body like that?
"That, dear girl, was the worst test of them all." Kayde's voice quietened. "They didn't make me run or prove my strength. Nothing like that. They damned near broke my soul that day. That test was one that paid adherence to my pride. I used to have a great deal more of it, and perhaps it would have been my downfall. My mentor saw it as a weakness in me, and took it upon himself to humble me. He never wanted me to put my pride over the greater good, after all. On that day, he gathered every guardian in the monastery to watch as they took off all of my clothes, shaved my hair, and coated me from head to toe in horse-shit. And from there, in front of everyone..." Kayde took a deep breath, "In front of everyone, my mentor had me beg, cry, grovel, and plead for five hours to be accepted into the ranks of the Remorda Guardians."
A sort of cold dread entered Iris's belly. "How is that not evil?"
"I wasn't forced to do it, dear girl. I knew what I was getting into before they undressed and sheared me." Kayde gave her a smile. "They give you these tests to make sure you won't let anything get in the way of helping someone that needs it. For all we know, one day there might be a life riding on me doing something completely humiliating. I needed to prove that I would do it. So I did."
And for a moment, the rogue mulled over his words. "You are strong of spirit, Kayde Vorantis."
He pulled his hands from her temples.
"And so you will be too," he patted her shoulder and then stood. "Time for breakfast, dear girl."
A/N -- Don't forget to let me know what you think!