Blayre was not ready to leave the vibrant coast and head back toward the capital. The ominous knowledge of likely having to leave for Mountainvale again so soon after arrival hung over her like a stormcloud. She daydreamed as they rode out of the port city, of sailboats and delicious imported fruit drinks.
The mood was like a blanket over all of them - especially Alessa, even though Lord Durrighan had joined them to return to the capital. The raven-haired woman had thrived in the misty ocean air, and Blayre realized belatedly that she had come to tolerate the Port Roubeles Alessa far more easily than travelling companion Alessa, who began to huff and complain about the mud and the rain that now pelted them from all sides once they had left the marine climate - their mood personified.
"I miss the shops, and the music in the streets, already." Alessa sighed loudly. "I can tell you do too, you look - deflated." She said to Blayre, pulling at her own damp clothing. "Though I suppose I would be too, if I had to go from the capital to the mountains. At least their are people in the capital."
"Seeker Blumore is from the mountains. That's where Blumore Estate is located." Put in Rorrick matter of factly.
Obviously someone had not paid much attention to her geography lessons.
"Not that I have much fondness for the place." Blayre said dryly, reaching down to pick a thorny twig out of Dove's charcoal mane. The birds chattered around them,chirps muffled by the rainfall, and their small shadows flitting around the travelers in the damp forest above.
"No?"
This was not something that she wanted to elaborate on with Alessa of all people.
"No. My family can be - irritating." Blayre gritted out.
"I see. Well, it sounds like you are at home in the Capital. I myself prefer the trade ports. Much more exciting if you ask me."
"My dear, that's because you grew up more or less in a foreign country. Until you came of age to return to court." Lord Durrighan chimed in. "It is only natural that you have a taste for foreign flare."
Blayre resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
She wondered when the spring rain would give in to summer sun as they neared the capital and was relieved when they arrived to take up overnight residence at a small town inn.
Upon entering the room that the three of them were to share, Ainslee moved at lightning speed to the fire waiting for them in the hearth, while Nuala's eyes crinkled in laughter. "I don't think I've ever been so cold." the redhead complained.
Blayre laughed, informally claiming one of the three cots by tossing her satchel onto it. "I believe you said that when we traveled to Mountainvale, and that time last year when we had to go out right after mid-winter to that inspection in Riverside, and..."
Something soggy and cold hit Blayre in the back of the head. "Hey!"
"See, you don't like being cold and wet either." Ainslee stuck out her tongue.
"I already was." Blayre groaned, tossing the garment back her friend's way. "Thank the Moon and Sun our satchels are waterproofed." She added, pulling out a dry tunic and leggings. She touched the simple mage-charm hanging from the satchel with reverence.
"If only we were waterproof." Ainslee complained.
Nuala snorted. "I don't think that would be very practical."
A woman after my own heart. Blayre thought, shaking out her cloak.
"We deserve a bit of a celebration after that leg of the journey." Rorrick said jovially once everyone had returned to the common room, considerably more dry than when they had initially arrived. "Whatever you folks want, I'm covering the tab tonight."
"Isn't the Crown funding this trip to begin with?" Blayre laughed as she sat down beside Fletcher at a small circular table.
"That's how he's getting away with being so generous, of course." Fletcher grinned as a flagon of ale was placed on the table in front of him.
Blayre was surprised when the server placed a glass of clear amber whiskey in front of her. "From the big lad over there." The woman winked.
Blayre narrowed her eyes, and looked in Rorrick's direction. It seemed he was playing the part of undercover royalty again. Not that she blamed him. She'd been undercover her entire life more or less.
He winked one azure eye at her from where he stood leaning against the counter, and her cheeks heated. She had the sudden resolve to corner him alone and put a close on their unfinished business. What was the great fool thinking?
It was difficult to get time alone, when surrounded by traveling companions at every turn. But she was so tired of the mixed signals. Part of her wished the duke would simply leave her alone - nothing good would come of them having feelings for each other anyway.
But she wanted him to express his feelings for her.
Badly.
And the sound of Alessa's twinkling laughter as it drifted to her was not making Blayre's restraint any easier, as she stared resolutely into the amber depths of her glass.
"What did whiskey ever do to you?" Fletcher said, and she saw his pewter cup of ale lift out of the corner of her eye.
Blayre forced a smile, looking up from her drink. "Nothing, just thinking a bit too much is all."
"More than usual?" Fletcher snorted.
"Yes," Blayre confirmed, a genuine smile shifting in place over the false one. "Far more than I should." Glasses clinked around them as more alcohol was poured and folks received bowls of steaming food.
"You know what helps with that?" Her friend waggled his bushy brows. "Drinking the whiskey, rather than just staring into it all evening."
This earned him an eyeroll. "We both know I am a very controlled drunk." She couldn't stop thinking if she tried.
A bowl of the inn's stew was placed in front of her, and her appetite made her forget for the moment, her predicament as she fell into the lull of conversation around her as Ainslee and then Caval and Nuala and one of the soldiers joined their table.
A second glass of whiskey immediately replaced Blayre's first, and she was feeling pleasantly buzzed when she felt Ripley's magic as soundly as if it were a tap on the shoulder. She craned her neck to look at him and he simply motioned for her to follow, his face as impassive as ever.
"I'll be back - I hope." She said to her friends, dabbing at the corners of her mouth with her napkin and tossing the cloth onto the table in her wake. Ripley had disappeared from view, but she followed the familiar imprint of his magic like an old friend - or perhaps like an animal being lead to slaughter.
His magic led her outside to the stables, where the welcome sounds of horses munching on their meals and wuffling in their stalls greeted her. Warm but gentle light seeped out from the place which appeared to be deserted save for a stable boy who slept slouched against a wall on a small pile of hay, a sleeping spell pulsing gently off of him. Moon and Sun, what was going on? Where was the unmarked mage taking her? Had there been less alcohol in her system, she might have cared more about the improper use of magic by an unmarked mage.
Blayre was admiring the horses as she passed by, left hand trailing along the stall door when she bumped into something - someone - solid and smelling of pine and smoke, and with no trace of magic.
"Whoa there." Rorrick's voice rumbled deep in his chest as he gripped her arms to keep her from bouncing backward.
Recovered, she glanced around, "Where's Ripley?"
Rorrick flashed a smile. "I had him bait you out here."
Blayre's eyes narrowed as she looked up at him, the light casting a warm glow to his features. "Whatever for?" She itched to cross her arms, but Rory had her in too tight a grasp.
"To get you alone without too much suspicion."
"Oh." She swallowed and glanced around, her mouth suddenly dry. "But - why get me alone." He didn't need to know that she had been hoping to do the same.
He glanced around and pulled her into the stall they stood beside, which happened to be the one currently housing his gelding who ignored them, his snout deep in the trenches of his food bin.
The stall door clicked shut, and Rory placed a hand on each side of her face. "So I could do this." The objection that formed on her lips was quickly forgotten as his pressed firmly against her mouth, a pleasant warmth spreading from head to toe.
She kissed back, eyes pinched shut and her hand pressing against his chest where his cotton tunic created a barrier between her fingers and his broad muscles. Her lips on were fire, as their tongues connected.
This, she thought, must be what it feels like to touch flames without getting burned.
The horse snorted, making her jump and Rory laughed against Blayre's mouth, teeth bared in a grin. "I am assured no one will find us. Ripley and I took precautions." His voice was low and gravelly, she could feel the vibration in his chest as he spoke.
Blayre felt slightly guilty at the thought of the sleeping stable boy. But no harm in a little extra sleep. "He's okay with this?" Blayre leaned back from the duke to look into his eyes, which crinkled mirthfully at the corners.
"His involvement speaks for him."
Am I okay with this? She wondered, but her body betrayed her mind as she accepted another kiss. This time Rory's hands moved from her face down to the small of her back, thumbs circling around to press against her hips. They paused, breathless. "I'm not sure, if this is the right thing to be doing."
Rorrick traced a finger down the side of her cheek, "I think I've tired of doing the 'right' thing. Everything I have done my entire life has been Crown approved, except in instances where my father was able to intervene. And this. This is something that I've wanted to do since I laid eyes on you."
"When you were half unconscious?"
"I thought I was dreaming about the most fierce and competent woman in the realm."
Blayre touched a finger to her lip and closed her eyes, willing herself to be calm. To be logical. Nothing was logical when she was around Rorrick. She thought of Alessa, back in the inn, hanging on every word he spoke. Hanging on him, delicate hands gripping his arm, and the warmth partially seeped out from her.
"I'll tell you what," She stepped back, pulling herself from his grasp. "Whatever this is, I just need some time to adjust to it. And - I don't know," She turned her back to him. "It could affect my job. It could affect your standing with the Crown. And will it just going to be stolen moments in buildings that smell like horse shit?" She did cross her arms now, facing Rorrick's gelding.
He wrapped his arms around her from behind, his chin resting on her shoulder. "Well, regardless of us acting on them, the feelings would be there. And so far you've kept me alive pretty well, I'd say. And it's not as if your assignments will consistently keep you in close proximity to me. Quite the opposite, most likely."
"What about Alessa?" The words had been burning a sour taste on the edge of her mouth.
Rorrick breathed in deeply before forming a reply, his warm breath tickling the hairs on her neck. "I don't feel anything for Alessa. And she feels nothing for me, we are just putting on a show for appeasement. They think we'd be a good match to take over as representatives to either the Jewelled isles or the Southern Isles with our foreign experiences there."
"Oh." Was all Blayre said.
"This is the first time I've truly been alone with you." Rorrick murmured.
Blayre laughed lightly and turned herself in his arms so she was facing him again. "We were alone in the forest on the way back from Mountainvale."
"Yes and you barely knew me and we were being pursued by an assassin."
She laughed. "Well, I wouldn't mind more of this. But I just need some time to absorb it," She took a deep breath. "It's a lot to take in."
"I'll give you as much space as you need." Said Rorrick after the silence that ensued. "I understand - but we all tire of secrets at some point."
Why did the things she wanted most in life have to come affixed with so many complexities?