DarkFyre Ch. 21

Stern of feature and mind made up or no, Rael still had his sense of fairness and honor. He paid the Brother good coin for their meal before the pair returned to their room.

The last of the sun's rays peeked over the hills on the horizon by the time they headed upstairs, narrow flickers of golden light piercing the darkened sky like the lash of a whip. Little flashes of light reflecting off a razors edge, cutting across the heavens.

Then even that was gone, and only darkness remained.

"He was strange," Silmaria said as she plopped down onto their bed, propping herself up on her elbows and staring at the dusky ceiling while Rael lit the small candle in the wall sconce just beside the window.

"Stranger than usual," she clarified.

"He was," Rael agreed in short tones. He stared out the window into the darkness of the empty night. Silmaria knew from his tone and his posture that he was lost in thought.

"He was unsettled, that much was clear. Frightened, maybe," the Nobleman voiced at last.

"He seemed awful reluctant for us to leave," Silmaria commented.

"Yes," Rael agreed, his jaw setting hard. He leaned against the windowsill, and stared pensively into the distance.

Silmaria watched him, for a time, and seeing him stare into the blackness outside their window, the Gnari's earlier unease began to rise, settling into a hollow ache in the center of her breast. Her tail twitched, swishing with anxious energy, and her ears flicked forward to lay flat along the top of her head.

By the moment her dread became a tangible, certain thing.

She sat up and went to him on quiet feet. She twined her arms around the Knight's thick arm, pulling firmly at it, until he turned his gaze to her, staring down into her upturned eyes.

"Master... Master, we need to leave," she said, struggling to fight down her rising panic and keep her voice steady.

Rael stared at her for a moment, his brows raised with surprise. "Now?"

"Yes," Silmaria nodded urgently. "Tonight. Right now."

Rael motioned toward the open window with his free hand. "It's a moonless night, and not even the starlight is getting through. It's black as the void out there."

"I know," Silmaria said, swallowing softly. She forced down her anxiety and frustration. She knew it sounded foolish, and she couldn't even articulate why, but she knew that Rael saw it, too. She just had to get him to acknowledge it.

"Something is wrong here, Master," she tried again, staring up at him with wide feline eyes. "Ricard has done everything he can to delay our leaving, don't you think? You said it yourself. All his reasons, all his excuses for why we couldn't get this, or get that, it all felt... wrong. None of it made sense. And he wanted too desperately for us to stay. Why would he care so much? It's not for our coin or patronage. And we certainly aren't the only travelers to pass through the Brothers' door!

"So why? And why did he look like we'd just handed him a death sentence when we refused to stay another few days? It's not right, Master. None of it is right."

Rael listened to the distressed Gnari quietly, his intense eyes staring down into hers while he contemplated her words. At last, he turned to face her fully, and placed his roughened hands on her graceful shoulders. "What do you suggest is going on, then?"

Silmaria shifted her weight from one foot to the other, her face screwing up with uncertain frustration. She shook her head quickly, sending black curls flying. "I don't know, Master. I've no idea! All I know is that it doesn't feel right. Call it intuition. Call it a gut feeling. I just know it, in my bones and in my core. We need to leave."

The Noble stared down into his love's eyes, and then nodded. "I agree. I was feeling much the same. I told myself I was being paranoid. But you're right. Something is strange here. And I'd honestly as soon not linger and find out what."

The air went out of her in a rush, and Silmaria felt herself relax, if only somewhat. She gave him a shaky smile. "Thank you, Sir. For listening to me. For not thinking I'm a fool."

"You're many things, Sil, but a fool you are not," Rael nodded, reaching up to brush away the tumble of rich, gleaming curls that had fallen before her eyes. He bent and kissed her, soundly, and then nodded to their things in the corner. "Let's get our things together, and be away from here."

They gathered their supplies quickly and orderly in the manner they'd become accustomed to over the long days on the road. Silmaria felt lighter already. It was a strange sort of thing, the impulsive urgency to be away from the inn.

Silmaria cinched her belt on around her narrow waist and shouldered her pack. She glanced around the room while Rael strapped his greatsword to his back, and not without more than a bit of fondness in her gaze. Despite the unease she felt, and a certainty that their stay had reached its end, their brief time here had been welcome, and needed.

"I never thought just a few days ago that I would pass up a chance at one more night in a bed," Silmaria mused.

Rael chuckled softly, and shook his head. "Neither did I. All things in their time, I suppose. And it's time we moved on."

"Yeah," Silmaria agreed softly. "We still have to go find our answers."

"Yes," Rael nodded. "And one night sooner is still too long away for my liking. Let's go."

"Yes, Sir."

Rael opened the door leading out into the inn.

The candles and wall lanterns spread throughout the inn were each and every last one extinguished. The hallways and common room below were as dark and empty as the moonless void outside.

The inn reeked of death, a coppery tang in the air of fresh spilt blood.

"Get back," Rael hissed.

The knight took a single step back, one hand motioning behind him as the other reached for the hilt of his greatsword at his shoulder.

Before his fingers could wrap around the hilt, a curved blade plunged into his back.

***

I am NOT dead, I promise!

Seriously though. My sincere apologies for the much, much too lengthy wait on this chapter to all my regular readers. I hit a whole bevy of snags and changes and delays. Life got away with me for awhile. I will do my sincere and honest, absolute best to not take so long on the next one! I may manage to get the next chapter out quicker, or it may take awhile again. I can't say for certain.

But what I can say is this! I WILL finish this story! Even if it takes me longer to get the remaining chapters out, I will not let this story go uncompleted! So please, everyone, bear with me as I move forward in this work!

Thank you so very much, everyone, for the continued support and encouragement on my work. I sincerely appreciate every one of you! And I hope everyone enjoys this and it was at least semi-worth the wait while I got back on track!

P.S. Cliffhangers may very well be my new addiction. Just sayin'.