WG - The Mystery of the Poisoned Healer Options

[mALX]

*

Eyja:

Eyja gapped Maxical's window to give her fresh air as she was getting her travel pack and the smell of hackle-lo wafted in. No wonder Maxical liked it so well. She leaned out the window and waved her arm in a "Come on over" gesture. The doors were magically sealed, but Seth had already shown he could get around them.

"Seth's on his way, Maxical. Tell him I'll be just a minute, Abiene and I have something to look at."

"Geez, you think I couldn't hear you two down there? You two were like cats yowling on a fence at night. Will you stop bossing her? She is my friend, and you do have a tendency to give orders Eyja."

Maxical waved her hand to stop Eyja from leaving. "Wait just a second. Get your notepad and quill out, I need you to send a message for me."

She waited while Eyja retrieved the pad from her bra. Eyja grabbed a quill off the table by the bed and dipped it in the inkwell there. "Go ahead."

"There is an Alchemist named Ancotar that was working on a cure for Skooma addiction with S'drassa at the Leyawiin Mages Guild; Fathis was funding their research. Send a message to Ancotar at Fort Caractacus, he is the smarter of the two."

Eyja nodded, scribbling it down. "Seth is a master Alchemist, and he is here already."

"Seth the Dunmer that smells so good?"

"Do you know another?"

"Did you really smoke his hackle-lo? Why did you choke, was it rolled wrong or something?"

"Not hardly, he wasn't choking."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing! I put it in my mouth and just kind of...sucked on it."

Maxical rolled her eyes at Eyja. "Geez, Eyja. You're not polishing a sword, you know. I'll teach you how, Gils showed me."

"Don't you dare repeat that when Seth gets here." Eyja scolded her, but was glad to see the grin on her face. She must be feeling better, last night had been a hard one for her.



*





This post has been edited by mALX: Aug 6 2013, 03:04 AM

[Grits]

Abiene

“Let us have a truce between us of our stubborn wills, it will make protecting you easier, and my Nord ways more tolerable and palatable for you. Did you not learn Nords are stubborn from your Jerric?”

Abiene closed her mouth over what she had been about to say, her words lost in a flood of emotion. That’s the second time she’s invoked his name. Eyja knew where Abiene was weak, and she would exploit it. It’s for my own good, Abiene thought. Rather than snap back she simply looked Eyja in the eyes, letting her see just how deeply she had cut.

“Let there be peace between us,” Abiene agreed. She picked up the ring and slipped it onto her finger.

“This surgeon you are in training with, will he attend?” asked Eyja. They moved to Maxical’s room.

Abiene gave a tiny shake of her head in reply. She didn’t want Maxical to hear too much and become alarmed, and she had no doubt that if Eyja didn’t understand she would bring it up again later.

Maxical had Abiene laughing within moments of her waking up. Sethyas was awake and possibly on his way to join them. Abiene decided that he could probably stand the sight of a Breton in a nightgown if he arrived before she got dressed, but she made an attempt to smooth her unruly curls. There were some sights that no one should have to suffer. She wanted to show Eyja her things before Maxical woke up enough to get curious.

Abiene retrieved her satchel and headed into the kitchen area.

[Black Hand]

He saw the wave from Eyja, and she signalled it was okay to enter. Growing up with a sister, he knew she'd valued her privacy, so he associated it with women in general.

Probably preening themselves over that coffee. He thought wryly.

He entered the suite after offering the coded knock.

"Good Morning." he greeted them.

"You seem to be doing much better." He commented, looking to Abiene.

"How is the progress coming along?"

He listened to her, while helping himself to a cup.





This post has been edited by Black Hand: Aug 6 2013, 03:43 AM

[Grits]

Abiene

“Good morning,” Abiene replied with a smile. “I’m doing much better, thank you. I ate enough of your Shepherd’s Pie for breakfast to choke a goblin.” She shot a teasing glance at Eyja. “I wonder if I’ll ever taste its like.”

“How is the progress coming along?” he asked.

Abiene took the opportunity to fill him in on her plans for Maxical’s treatment. Eyja seemed to value Seth’s opinion, and she could use another impartial advocate for Maxical. And for my ideas, she admitted to herself. Seth seemed like a mer who was accustomed to unusual situations.

“So you see, we’re looking at two procedures,” Abiene finished. “The surgery and the restoration. Here are my blades, Eyja.” She unrolled the small packet of instruments she carried with her for emergencies. “Examine them if you like.” She stopped herself before warning that they were sharp.

“The other thing concerns restoring Maxical’s damaged organs. Eyja, you are right to question whether I can manage it. I hope this will help you decide.”

Abiene glanced around the kitchen area before she opened the other parcel. Eyja’s cleaning bordered on the compulsive and Abiene didn’t want to sicken her. She picked a book off of a nearby shelf and placed it on the table.

Then she opened the small bag and removed a withered finger. She laid the bag on top of the book and the finger atop the flattened bag.

Abiene placed her hands palms-down on the table. Narrow and long-fingered as an elf’s with nails kept trimmed and impeccably clean. Strong enough to reset a bone and gentle enough to lift a newborn to his mother’s breast. The hands of a healer.

“That’s my finger,” she said, nodding at the severed digit. “See if you can tell which one it was.”

[mALX]

*

Eyja:


Eyja heard Seth's voice below and hurried down to greet him. "Are you hungry yet?"

She waved Seth to help himself and then went over to inspect Abiene's equipment. She was very impressed by what Abiene showed her on the restoration of tissue.

In the middle of examining Abiene's fingers Maxical called from upstairs. "EYJA! I need help..."

"I'll be right back, I know what she needs." Eyja hurried up the steps and removed the bedpan she'd found in the utility room, cleaned and sterilized for Maxical to use.

"You must have really had to go! Seth is here now, maybe he'll stop up and say hello in a bit. He's talking to Abiene right now."

She glanced around for an urn, then thought it best if Seth was coming up not to have fresh pee scent in the room. She set it down on the ledge in front of the gapped window and leaned forward to make sure no one was walking through the alleyway behind the inn.

There was, a tall figure in a dark robe of fairly decent material. As Eyja glanced out the head turned up, scanning the windows of the upper floor of the suite.

Eyja cast chameleon quickly and watched as the hooded figure honed in on the gapped window she was looking out. They moved closer, staring hard at the open window. The cowled hood covered too much of their face, she couldn't even tell if it was man or woman.

Without taking time to think it through, Eyja dumped the bedpan full of hot cat pee. Assassin or not, they couldn't be up to any good eyeing upper story windows. They were obviously not here to rent a room, prowling around back.

If it was the assassin, they would find out quickly that the scent of cat pee does not wash off easily. Eyja listened closely to the cursing below. The voice was deep, but could have been either male or female. She remembered Earana's voice, if one closed their eyes they'd have thought a man was speaking.

The figure fled toward Chorrol. Eyja bolted the window and checked all the others to make sure they were latched as well, then went back through magically sealing each window. She hurried downstairs still carrying the bedpan, and checked the bolt and magic seal on the access door at the bottom of the stairs.

She ran past Seth and Abiene to the connecting door into the room below; checking the window and door there as well and sealing them. then did the same with the door into the suite.

When she returned she stopped a ways back from Seth and Abiene and held out the bedpan. "Do you both smell that scent? Remember it. It doesn't wash off easily, and I think I've just covered our assassin in it."

She went back to the utility room to clean the bedpan, calling out to them what had happened as she worked on it. When she was done she scrubbed her hands and arms, and stepped back out into the kitchen area.

"Well, we now know they are back, and they know Abiene is in this suite. The staff here must have told them."



*






This post has been edited by mALX: Aug 6 2013, 06:24 AM

[mALX]

*

Maxical:


It was lonely in the suite bedroom. People breakfasted downstairs and chatted, she was stuck in this bed alone. Eyja brought her food and medicine, healed her; but only stayed in the room when she was ready to sleep.

Maxical had thought of several excuses to get Eyja to her room to talk, but Eyja was suddenly all business. It was easy to recognize the signs that Eyja was on a case, she was tense and taking command. She was used to having command of a full squad of highly trained assassins, and sometimes forgot she was dealing with regular people when she was trying to protect them. But who was she protecting? Abiene?

It had to be. Eyja never brought her casework around Maxical before; so the fact that she was now meant it was someone in the house. It had to be Abiene. What was going on?

It didn't feel good being out of the loop. Eyja always kept her business secret, but Maxical was adept at eavesdropping and finding out what she was up to. Stuck here in this bed she only managed to overhear snatches of conversations.

Seth's voice was a low rumble that refused to carry distinguishable words. Whatever was going on, he knew the full of it, she was sure of that. More than that, he was in on it.


"It's lonely up here alone, Eyja. Why don't you all talk up here, I can hear everything you say down there anyway..."

Maxical gaped when she realized Eyja intended to throw her pee out the window. "Ew!"

"Hush" Eyja's voice got very quiet, Maxical saw her stiffen. Something was up.

In the blink of an eye Eyja had disappeared. The hurried sealing of the windows and doors she recognized immediately. The fish was landed. Eyja had reeled her mark in, or the mark found its prey.

It was excruciating to be tied to the bed when something was going down, she needed to be mobile with all this happening around her.

"ABIENE! ABIENE! HURRY!"



*

[Grits]

Abiene

Maxical’s cry made Abiene jump. “ABIENE! ABIENE! HURRY!”

Abiene shot a glance at Eyja while she gathered up her instruments. Anyone who could yell that loudly had at least a few more breaths left in them, and Abiene would prefer to act with Eyja as her ally.

She scooped up a clean dish towel and moved toward the stairs.

[Darkness Eternal]

The lithe black-robed hooded figure rushed from the alley into the wilderness and to Chorrol. The black robe was drenched in what felt and smelled like urine and not just any urine. Cat urine.

The smell was too much and it was overwhelming. The figure gagged as she made a few steps toward Chorrol's front gates, screaming. "Guards! Guards!" she called out.

Three guards were at their post and rushed over to the woman in distress. Two of them were overfed men that must have sat the entire year rather than so much as run after a crook while the other was a woman who could have been born a man judging my the hair growing on her upper lip and the meeting of her heavy accentuated brows.

All three of them ran to her aid and asked: "What is it citizen?"

The black-robed individual motioned to herself and her robe. That symbolic robe that meant so much to her and her people that was now tarnished with animal urine. "I was attacked."

"By who?" one said.

"I see no wounds," the woman added. "Are you hurt?"

The hooded figure pulled back her black hood and felt her hair wet with the yellow hot liquid that was thrown on her. As a victim of a cruel sick joke, she appeared as if she was nearly going to cry.

"Someone had the audacity to pour urine all over me."

"Yeah, she's hurt alright," the woman said. "Her dignity was wounded."

All three of them laughed. The robed woman was the only one that did not share in the light humor. She wasn't feeling humorous, in fact, she almost never did. Especially in this case.

"This isn't a laughing matter. I was assaulted."

They continued to laugh. One decided to ask, "Who are you, citizen?"

"My name is Irvana," she said, and then added her last name.

The mockery slowly died and when it happened it was because they realized who she was. "My lady, I apologize. Where did this happen?"

"I was star-gazing," she said without any open anger toward them. "It happened from behind me. Whether I was attacked or simply a victim of the humor of others, it is still a crime, no?"

It was. According to the law, even pranks such as casting a spell where everyone's modesty is exposed can be a crime. Throwing urine upon an individual is the same.

"Yes, my lady. Where did it happen?"

Irvana pointed in the direction and explained. The smell would not wash off easily and these were the only robes she had with her. If only she was able to get her hands on those who did it, though she knew she wouldn't do anything dangerous. She let her frustration contained and closed her eyes.

"I need a bath. Now."

[mALX]

*

Eyja:


The loud banging combined with shouting and cursing coming from the room adjoining the suite let Eyja know the staff had discovered they could no longer access the room or suite.

She exchanged glances with Abiene. “Will you go see what Maxical wants? I’ll handle this.”

The raised voice was decidedly male. Eyja moved swiftly and mechanically, reaching into her travel pack and pulling out a large odd-shaped towel.

She turned away from Seth to change. With a twist of a hand over her head her clothes disappeared, and she wrapped the towel around herself, tucking one corner into itself. Once on, she twisted the towel at the waist so it fit to her form; accentuating her curves and leaving as revealing a view of her breasts and legs as her low cut top and short skirt would have.

She grabbed a clean dish towel and hurried to the ewer, sticking her hand down in it and heating the water in seconds with a fire spell. Several times she dipped the towel in the ewer and slapped it on her arms and legs, then her neck, face, and hair.

The hot water misted a vapory halo of steam around her face, pinking her cheeks with the heat. Lastly she squeezed it over her breasts so rivulets ran across them with a touch of vapor rising from them as well.

As she hurried toward the door into the room she was twisting her hair into a knot on top of her head, tucking it into itself as she had done the towel.

She glanced at Seth dolefully, hoping he wouldn’t follow and see what she was about to do. She closed and sealed the suite door behind her; then immediately unsealed the outer room door without moving toward it. It crashed open with her still at the suite door, and a huge black Khajiit barreled through it.

Eyja shrieked “Guards! Help! Assault! RAAAAAPE! HELP!”

A Redguard she’d seen around the Inn before was standing in the corridor looking enraged, but at that he rushed in.

“No one is assaulting you! We couldn’t get in your door, and I want to know why!”

“Why are you two men trying to force your way into the room of three defenseless woman who are paying guests? I insist on speaking to Bograk immediately, and if you two men don’t get out of my room this instant I will not just call the guards, but lodge a complaint against this Inn with the Countess Arriana, who has been a champion in the protection of women living alone since her widowhood.”





***





Eyja folded her arms under her chest, accentuating the bulging of them above the towel and stared directly into the Redguard’s eyes; her lids half drooped to look angry and sultry at the same time. His eyes flickered to her breasts and back up to her eyes.

“Get Bograk.” He motioned the Khajiit, then turned back to Eyja. “You won’t be a paying guest once she sets eyes on you, we don’t rent to...your type.”

“What type is that, the type that bathes?” Eyja’s lip curled at him as she continued.

“I know you barged in here last night and dragged Abiene out of this room bodily, and now you wonder why I have locked the door? You’ll not force your way in here again, nor drag any more women from this room or suite, or you will end in jail for rape. I will tear this towel and scream so loud for the guards they will come from Skingrad to see what the commotion is. That is a promise. And by the time they arrive I will be bruised and your face will be scratched. Do we understand each other?“

“There was a sick guest, the healer was brought to him...”

“A man trespassing in a paying guest’s room in the middle of the night and dragging her from her bed...to heal another guest? If anyone believed that, they would wonder why you didn’t knock; and when she answered, then request her assistance. You will not bully Abiene again. She is my guest, staying here in my suite to treat my charge. If she chooses to and is not busy, she is free to treat others as well; but it is her choice. You won’t force your way in here again, or drag her out to treat your guests again. I suggest Bograk or her boy be the only ones we deal with till our stay here ends, do we understand each other?”

Bograk’s thudding steps could be heard ascending the stairs. The Redguard glanced smugly toward the atrium, his look as much as saying Bograk would be throwing Eyja out.

Eyja quickly untwisted the waist of the towel so now it hung loosely like a bulky sack around her. She yanked it over her breasts and re-crossed her arms, but higher up so they now covered her breasts almost completely. When the Redguard turned back his eyes started in surprise. Eyja had tears streaming down her face, her expression frightened; and her stance modest and protective of her virtue.




***





Bograk took one look at her and turned to the Redguard. “What is going on here?”

“She had her door locked, I couldn’t get in. Look at the way she’s dressed! I saw her breasts, she can’t deny it!”

Eyja spoke up tearfully. “It was horrible! I was bathing, and he broke in with his Khajiit friend; just like last night! I didn’t have time to do anything but grab a towel for cover, they burst through the door by force. Last night after midnight he...”

She pointed at the Redguard, then quickly wrapped her arms back around herself modestly, though the now-raised towel showed no cleavage at all.

“He crept in here and dragged Abiene forcibly from her bed, he says to treat another guest at the Inn. She was well bruised on the arm when she returned. Abiene is a paying guest by my proxy; staying in my suite to treat my friend; is under my protection. We are three women, alone and defenseless. Of course I sealed the door against another such attack.”

Eyja lay her hand on Bograk’s arm in appeal. “You saw how critically ill my friend was. Abiene is performing surgery on her. We must limit germs, and she must have complete quiet. Abiene may be willing to help another guest while my friend is in recuperation if requested by you or little Lleris; but I won’t have men coming in our bedchambers at will while we sleep, nor dragging any of us out when he chooses.”

Bograk patted her hand, glaring at the Redguard.

“It won’t happen again; will it, Riad? I offer apologies on his behalf, Miss. You can seal your door, and just let us know if you need anything. It’ll be just myself or Lleris you’ll see from here out, and we‘ll knock and wait an answer. I‘ll take another ten percent from your bill for this disturbance.”

“Thank you, Bograk. I hope my friend does as well as your Lleris has, he looked so well when we returned.”

Eyja stood in the door and watched as Bograk all but shoved the Redguard down the hall and up the stairs to the attic.

As she started to turn back to the room she saw that overstuffed gate guard with the onion breath heaving himself up the stairs; the one she had stood up for a date when Abiene first became ill. He saw her and pointed.

“Stop right there, criminal scum!”

What in hell was this all about? Eyja twisted the towel at the waist quickly and yanked the towel low so her breasts bulged out the top of the towel and it form-fitted her shape again. She had her eyelids dropped halfway down in a sultry look before he labored up to her, pulling a set of shackles from his belt.

Eyja looked up through her lashes at him, her eyes roving hungrily over his overfed body as if looking at a juicy steak.

“Ooh, what strong arms you have; I’ll bet you could just toss me right up in the air with no problems! And here I am in just a towel. Maybe we should slip into my bedroom here...I mean so you can tell me what I’ve done to get on my beau’s bad side. We had a date, remember? You stood me up, I’ve waited here all this time for you.”



*






This post has been edited by mALX: Aug 7 2013, 01:18 AM

[Grits]

Abiene

A commotion sounded from the room adjacent to the hall. Abiene resolved to sleep in the extra bed upstairs hereafter. A third disturbance from that quarter would be too much.

“Will you go see what Maxical wants?” asked Eyja. “I’ll handle this.” The Nord woman turned away, raised an arm, and was suddenly altogether naked.

Abiene wasted no time checking for Seth’s reaction, though she imagined that Eyja’s display might put an expression on his face. She darted up the stairs to Maxical, sliding her instruments behind a chest as she passed. Showing a collection of blades to a patient was not a good way to put them at ease.

“I’m here, Maxical,” she called. A moment later she was seated on the bed with Maxical’s hand in hers, gently feeling her forehead.

[Black Hand]

With Abiene
________________________________________

Sethyas looked stunned.

"I can't." replying as he admired the skill.

"If she needs the procedure, she need the procedure." he shrugged. "Especially if the injuries will make it a slow, painful death, better to get it over with. Apologies if that sounded insensitive, but that is how I see it."

"She may have some of her own words to share before it, however. If she is in full faculties, and refuses it I would respect that choice. Whatever her reason." He shrugged.

Suddenly, Eyja came barging down and told them too recognize the scent of the bedpan she was holding. He doubted he'd ever be able to forget it. J'Dhannar had smelled much the same.

"ABIENE! ABIENE! HURRY!” Maxical cried.

He blinked, uncertain as to where he was needed or what he should do.

It's too early for this. I'm finishing this coffee before any more misadventures, damn it. If I'm going to die for these people, it's going to be wide awake with one less regret of missing this wonderful concoction. He thought crankily.


Suddenly Eyja began giving him a look in response to the banging on the door.

We *just* sat down to breakfast five minutes ago! What is it *with* this Inn?!

Still, he let her handle it her way, as he sat down and listened in.

Sethyas did everything in his power to not guffaw out loud.

Alone and defenseless?! By all the gods, I should be asking that Redguard for protection from you!

She finally negotiated the situation to her liking, with a nice ten percent discount too boot.

Not bad. Not bad at all. He thought, finally reaching the last sip.

Now too check on Maxical and Abiene. He thought.

“Stop right there, criminal scum!” a stalwart cry came from down the hall.

Sethyas stopped right before the stairs, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

I will murder you and then pay the fine. He thought darkly.

I will walk too my room, count out one thousand drakes, stab you from stem to sternum, carry your body to the local magistrate, dump it and my fine in front of him and say: "Sorry!".

He changed direction to help Eyja if needed, but staying at an angle in the room where only she could see him.

[mALX]

*

Maxical:


Maxical wanted to sit up so she would look more effective for what she was about to say, but each attempt brought excruciating pain in her stomach. Abiene's face showed concern when she saw Maxical's stressed state.

"Abiene, I am your patient, and Eyja is not my mother. By law I am fully nineteen years old, but my age was guessed at wrongly for my documentation. I am actually fully twenty-two. The decision for medical treatment does not lie with Eyja, but with me."

She looked Abiene in the eye steadily as she talked.

"I want you to fix my stomach, and whatever that finger thing you were talking about doing was...will you do it? I want to be whole again. But before you do, there is something even Eyja doesn't know about my health. A necromancer took me at age five and put a soul inside me, one he treasured. Eyja knows about that, but what she doesn't know is that he stuffed me with thousands of fragments of souls to protect that one soul, to disguise its presence. Each of those fragments contains its own magicka, that is why my level of magicka is so outrageously high."

Maxical paused. "I will tell you how it was told me by another necromancer who befriended me. The soul fragments bond together inside me and create something called Chaos Bane. It is a form of shadow damage that can destroy anything within 20 yards. It is why I can't heal; why I can only conjure hostile Daedra no matter what I cast; and why my destruction magic is volatile and unstable. It's also the reason I can't aim; everything is geared toward an area. No matter if the spell is from the Arcane Arts, it becomes converted; or maybe the correct word is perverted. It becomes destruction magic that comes from the Dark Arts, not the Arcane. You saw it in action when that bolt hit Earana."

She took Abiene's hand. "Arch Mage Traven has been my physician since I was a child. When I learned what was wrong with me from the necromancer who did this, I never told Hannibal. You yourself know why, his stand against necromancy. He would insist it be removed or I'd lose his friendship."

She pulled Abiene's hand to her cheek and looked into her eyes so she'd see the pain it had caused her as she continued.

"I lost my parents, all my memories of them and my life when they put that soul in me. That one soul became a part of me, and when I was twenty the necromancer she was hidden from removed her. I lost both my husbands to him. These fragments...necromancy or not, they belong to me now; they are all I have that is familiar in my life. I don't want to lose another thing. I want them left there, even if you find you can take them. Will you...will your beliefs allow you to do that for me?"



*





This post has been edited by mALX: Aug 7 2013, 03:43 PM

[Grits]

Abiene

Maxical’s words tore at Abiene’s heart. Abiene had always known the comfort of home, that she was and always had been loved. No matter how much tension there was between herself and her mother, how far her sister would go to tease and compete, they were there for her if she needed them. Abiene took pride in building her own life, but she knew that she started on solid rock while others struggled in shifting sand.

And to lose two husbands… Abiene knew how it felt to have her heart divided, but not to lose all hope. She could remember the scent of his hair, the heat of his skin, and she ached to hold him again. The thought of never again hearing that voice or seeing the light in those eyes was too much to bear. And every day Maxical bore it.

“I’ll heal you, Maxical, and I’ll restore your body to health. Don’t worry about me disturbing your souls. However they got there, they’re with you now. I might have drawn from your magicka in healing you, but now I won’t take the risk. You have my word, and you have my discretion.” She leaned forward and hugged Maxical gently against her chest, confident that unlike Eyja she would not cut off Maxical’s air supply with her bosom. Then she laid her back down on the bed.

“Let’s arrange the sheet like this, so I can lift your shirt up without leaving you overly exposed. Lie still for just another moment, and soon you won’t feel any pain. After I examine you I’m going to go get Sethyas to help with a potion. I want to be sure I have enough magicka to free you from this pain.”

First Abiene cast her spells of preparation, fortifying her magicka pool and regeneration as well as the one that temporarily lowered the drain of her Restoration spells. Then she placed her palms on Maxical’s belly wound.

Now that she knew what she was looking for, the Welkynd stone shards were not difficult to find. They appeared as empty spots in Maxical’s flesh rather than as the solid objects that they were. Small bits were festering just under the skin, but two larger fragments had been driven deeper. Abiene decided to use her debride spell on the surface grit after she resolved the deeper wounds. Then she could close and sterilize at the same time.

The organ damage would be impossible to completely assess until she had entered the healing trance. She knew she would need more magicka than her body held. The restoration would come last. Abiene stopped herself from thinking about what would come after.

Abiene scuffed her bare heels on the floor as she came up behind Seth. She was fairly certain he had heard her on the stairs, but Eyja and the inn’s staff were creating quite a racket and Sethyas was not a man one wanted to surprise.

They had talked about the potions she might need over coffee. Paralysis to hold Maxical still and one to put her to sleep, then something to dispel the effects in case Abiene was no longer able. She was sure Seth knew a dozen ways to accomplish those feats, so surely a few would be non-lethal.

Sethyas was standing in a way that suggested subterfuge. He turned his head and looked at her. Rather than speaking Abiene raised her eyebrows and glanced back and up indicating the suite’s upper level, then made a drinking motion. At least that’s how she hoped it appeared.

There was no point trying to talk behind Maxical’s back, the Khajiit could hear a mouse belch in windstorm. Besides, it would be disrespectful. Maxical was only three years younger than Abiene. She walked back through the kitchen and back up to Maxical.

[mALX]

*

Eyja:

Eyja pushed the door shut and latched it, squeezing her eyes tightly to fight off the nausea for what she was about to do. She swallowed it down hard, then forced a teasing smile on her face as she turned back to the gate guard.

He had seated himself on the bed, beads of sweat already appearing on his upper lip. Eyja felt the gag in her throat and swallowed hard again.

She leaned over so her breasts bulged before his face, reaching out with one hand and tickling his ear; then nearly vomiting when she felt crusts of waxiness.

"Now, what could your little Eyja have done, is it a crime to bathe at this inn? Because since I woke, that is all I've done."

He tried to paw at her and she stepped back. "First things first. What have I been accused of?"

His irritation at the interruption didn't reach his sweat glands, they continued oozing droplets.

"A noble woman claims someone threw stinking cat piss on her head while she walked behind the inn in the night. The manager here said you had a Khajiit in your room, the only one at the inn."

"The manager, is he a Redguard man named Riad? Because he just broke in my room with a huge black male Khajiit, you can ask the Proprietor. He must be protecting his friend. I do have a female Khajiit here, who is bedridden and having surgery performed on her; but I'm sure I don't have to tell someone as intelligent as you that female cat pee smells no different than any human's. It is the male Khajiit that have that strong odor in their pee, everyone knows that. If you'd like, you can inspect the urn in her room, you will find everything she has done and no odor stronger than even I would leave behind."

"No need for that, not part of my job description to go inspecting urns. Arresting is what I do."

She ran her fingers through his hair and encountered more sweat and a filmy feeling of grease. "How exciting it would be for me to be watching out the window and see you performing your official duties...arresting someone. You can't imagine how much. I'd think about it every minute till I saw you next."

Sweat was pouring down his neck in rivulets, the hot stench of his armpits reaching her nostrils. His breath was blowing out in heated gusts of onion, and his eyes kept darting down toward the head of the bed.

"My friend the healer is performing a surgery on the other side of that door, or we could...right now. I sure hope I get to see it when you catch the person who did that to that poor woman. I wonder why she was walking behind the inn at night? I'd be terrified, escpecially with that old ruin back there. I always picture some wild beast will charge out of it and bite me."

She tugged him up by the hand and deftly avoided the arms he tried to wrap around her.

"It sure makes me feel safe to know you are protecting us helpless women here at this inn. When my friend is out of the woods after this surgery, maybe I can show my gratitude a little better. I'd better go check on her."

Eyja nearly pushed him out the door as he fought for a kiss, shutting it almost on his arm and sealing it. She turned, leaning her back against the door and shaking uncontrollably; her breath coming in ragged gasps.

She swiped at the tears burning her eyes with the back of her hand, but her hands reeked of the guard. Her skin felt like it crawled with his grease, his odor. A bath. She needed a bath.

Eyja pushed herself off the outer door and ran toward the suite access, for the first time noticing it gapped. Just the barest crack, but beyond it the shadow of an outline. Seth. How much had he seen? The shame and revulsion...or all of it.

Eyja pushed by him without a word and ran to the tub, yanking off the towel and not even heating the water before she dropped into it and started scrubbing her hands and arms, her breasts, her face and neck; scrubbing till the skin became red and raw from it.



*






This post has been edited by mALX: Aug 7 2013, 07:41 PM

[Black Hand]

"Eyja." Sethyas spoke in low tone in the distance between them.

"Just listen, I'll say what I have to say, then I'll leave you alone." he sat down, resting his back to the wall. His eyes traced patterns in the stained wood of the rafters.

"I have to tell you: You remind me so much of my own sister. Plus that wound we share with them being gone; it never gets easier. Each day with it, is just another day we won't have to spend with them."

"Things are pretty bad right now, anyone can see that. Maxical's hurt, Abiene's poisoned, and your making yourself into something you don't want to be to protect them. I know how that feels. I never wanted to do what I do, but I chose it all the same."

"Because the hardest thing to do sometimes, is too move forward. You take the best of your available choices and you keep moving forward. We did this not just because we were willing to take on this burden, but because we couldn't stand the sight of those we love suffer."

"I'm not going to tell you how you should feel right now. Gods know I've done things I'll never be proud of, and I will carry that shame with me to the grave. Yet, at the same time I know I'll do them again, and again because the people that need us, need to move forward. And at the end of all this, we'll come out on top. We will win, because the person next to us picked them up and moved them forward."

"What you did; what you've done. It doesn't taste right, and you know the price you have to pay. But you knew you were the only one that could do it. To get to the end of this, we need to take our steps. We'll take those steps wherever we can find our footing. If we have to step over the bodies, fool the guards, find the malefactors,...we're going to take that next step and we're going to help the person next to us take it. We refuse to die, we will fight through this and we will win."

He stopped and took a deep breath.

"That's all I wanted to say. You do what you need to do, and when you need me; when you need my help to take that next step, I am here."

He stood up, and looked over at Abiene.

"Let's take a look at Maxical, shall we?" He said grabbing his alchemy satchel, and walked up the stairs.

[mALX]

*

Seth words soothed, a balm to that recognition between them.

Some...probably most assassins have long since killed that side of them that cringes in shame and cries at what they've done or wanting to scrub the necessity of it from their souls. Many become as cold and hard as the graves they send their marks to.

Eyja had sought that coldness within herself and never been able to find it. She would have bedded that man if she had to, and done it as many times as needed; had bedded a lot worse when the job called for it.

Very few would have known she would keep doing that as many times as needed, and worse if the job called for it; nor understood what it cost her each time.

Seth called it moving forward...it was. Moving forward with whatever it took, and no matter the cost. Love for Cytherea drove her into this life, survival kept her in it.

"Do what is needed to get the job done." She whispered.

Like Seth said, the love didn't ease in time. Her sister was as much a part of her now as she'd been in life. That love was a barrier against the cold hardness of her job taking her over as it had so many.

She didn't want to reach a place where what she did didn't eat away at her. It was the only way she knew Cytherea still existed somewhere, on some plane. It was the only way she knew Eyja still existed somewhere on this one.



Eyja dried off with a clean towel, kicking her form fitting towel to the wall as she stepped out of the tub. She'd wash it later, right now she couldn't stand to look at it.

After she'd brushed her teeth Eyja pulled out the pair of Arena scrubs Maxical had given her last Saturalia; light cotton pajamas for lounging that were the antithesis of sexy. The vee of the loose top barely showed her neck, and the bottoms were just as baggy, tied at the waist with a thick string.

Somehow Maxical had understood that after jobs like this she wanted to get as far away from what she had to do as possible. She couldn't have given a better gift.

Eyja buttered the last crust of Seth's homemade bread and cut herself a wedge of the cheese, then washed it down with another cup of Maxical's coffee before heading up the stairs to join the others. She had no doubt she had guessed accurately why Maxical called Abiene instead of herself.

Abiene's expression was of one hoping there wouldn't be a scene, Maxical's was a stormy look that said there'd better not be one. Seth's was one of kind understanding. Maxical had his hand tucked in hers, she trusted him as much as Eyja did.

Eyja surrendered her protective qualms. Maxical was of legal age now, it was just hard to remember that when she'd just seen her nearly dead.

"Where do you want me, and what can I do to help?"




*





This post has been edited by mALX: Aug 7 2013, 10:15 PM

[Black Hand]

Maxical was alert, and her eyes took in the sight of the strange Dunmer that had entered into their lives like a shadow. There was nothing that appeared kind about him. His eyes were red like all Dunmer, more accentuated than most, with his dark tattoo that marked him so clearly as Mephala's.

His expression was one that was eternally taciturn. It held all he saw, knew and thought in an unshakeable confidence. Once smelling of the brandy, he now smelled like her favored morning drink of coffee, and the unmistakable scent of hackle-lo. Very much like sage, it grew abundantly in the Bitter Coast and the Grazelands of Morrowind.

The herb was pleasant and vivacious, yet relaxing in it's overall makeup. She inhaled it deeply, letting it carry her to memories of better days. She felt a strong hand take hers, and the low rasp of a Dunmer began to talk.

"Hello, Maxical. Abiene's asked for my assistance in her procedure. Admittedly, this falls outside my normal job description: I am an antithesis to Abiene's profession. However, that also affords me knowledge comparable to hers. She's going to need some time to prepare, and once she begins, I'm going to need to paralyze you." he spoke slowly and enunciated slightly, just to make sure she was properly informed.

"I have various elixirs that can do this, with no permanent or ill effects. You will be returned to your normal state, and it can be done quickly. I also have various pain-killers that I can use, if Abiene approves. I don't know which would be appropriate for this procedure, so I can't promise anything."

"Are you okay with this?" he asked as she opened her eyes and looked at the sound of Eyja walking back upstairs.

Maxical knew her better than he, and Abiene seemed to be concerned for a scene. Maxical looked like she wasn't going to let her.

Her skin was rubbed raw and red around the unusually sparse amount of skin showing, her face without makeup was certainly different. Yet, it contained a beauty in and of itself, like a portrait that had been sketched awaiting the hues of the painter to be applied.

Seth saw she had put the mask back on.

It took a great deal of inner strength to wear it. More than most possessed.

She was okay. For now.

"Where do you want me, and what can I do to help?" she asked like a soldier approaching a general.

Seth looked to Abiene. This was her show.

[mALX]

*

Maxical:


She had just finished shaking her head no at the pain killers when Eyja came in, and paused to make sure Eyja was not there to cluck like a mother hen. Eyja's words seemed to satisfy her. She turned back to Seth.

"Something to calm would help, but I don't want any medication for pain. It might weaken me, or dull my wits; and I have few enough as it is. My Arena training should hold me in good stead through the pain."

Maxical's look was directed at Abiene, but she squeezed Seth's hand to include him in what she was about to say.

"If I can be awake I'd prefer it, I've watched enough stab wounds repaired on myself that it doesn't make me ill; and I know to be still throughout. Sometimes our weakness broadcasts in the void, and enemies sense it and come in for the kill. I have some that watch for those moments, and materialize like ghosts at them. Seth is here to protect me, but some of those enemies are ones he can't live through the fight with. Eyja knows who I speak of. My order is this, if one comes; do not engage. The battle is mine to fight, I'll not lose a friend over it."

She tugged Seth's hand. "That includes you. The reason I want to be awake is, I can think inane thoughts to keep them at bay; and they not realize my weak state."

She nodded at Abiene. "That is for my protection, but you tell me what and I'll do it. I'm ready when you are."



*





This post has been edited by mALX: Aug 7 2013, 10:54 PM

[Grits]

Abiene

Abiene cut up a towel to improvise surgical garb. One piece tied around her head kept the curls out of her face. She flattened the loose gown against the front of her body and folded the extra behind her back, secured with another strip of towel. Two basins sat ready on the chest of drawers beside the bed, one filled with water and one empty to receive soiled articles. Extra towels neatly folded went within her easy reach. She lined up her magicka potions, always one more than the rules allowed. Sethyas spoke to Maxical while she worked.

Then Maxical spoke up against the pain medication. Abiene kept her eyes on Maxical though she wanted to confer with Seth. As Maxical said, this was her fight.

“I’ll need you to be still for the first procedure,” she told Maxical. “It will hurt for perhaps a minute and then I’ll stop before the next part. The restoration will be considerably more painful, and I can’t predict how long it will last. However if you move a little there should be no trouble.”

“Where do you want me, and what can I do to help?” Eyja asked. She seemed to have suffered an ordeal and passed through it.

Abiene spoke in her bedside tone, calm and confident. “Eyja this is the instrument I will use, if you would like to sterilize it. I don’t expect much bleeding but if you stand here with a towel we’ll be sure none gets on the bed. Seth, right where you are is good. I’d ask that you please monitor Maxical’s condition. Should she become too distressed during the restoration, make me stop. Punch me if you need to, I might not hear your voice.” She flashed a quick smile. “Don’t worry, I can heal it.

“I’ll have a beam of light under this palm,” she continued. “Please be certain that nothing gets under it. My tools are enchanted against the spell, but anything else that is not living tissue will be dissolved. Including fingernails. Certainly not dangerous, but it can be troublesome.”

She smiled down at Maxical, then looked up between Seth and Eyja. “When I’m finished with the surgery I’ll rinse my hands, take those potions, and begin the restoration. If you would like to help I could use your magicka. When mine runs out I’ll put out my hand, like this. Just take my hand. Let go when you’re empty. I’ll do the rest. Oh, it’s the spell Absorb Magicka, so it does no permanent damage. It can be upsetting though, so... Well, I was going to say don’t feel pressured to do it, but of course that’s how you must feel. Anyway, that’s the plan.”

Abiene closed her eyes for a moment. Only if it’s necessary, she told herself.

“Hmm, and I’ll be skating close to the line of overdose on my potions, so if something should occur don’t give me another one. Ready? Here we go.”

It had taken far longer to discuss than to execute the procedure. Abiene flattened her palm and passed the blade under it, bathing it in blue light. The fur and dried blood on Maxical’s belly misted away. Abiene’s awareness slipped inside Maxical’s body as she brought her hand down onto Maxical’s skin. The pain began to seep in. Blood vessels and muscle fibers loomed around her, and the deep stone fragments made great empty caverns. The knife, the Welkynd shards, and Maxical’s flesh all seemed to be parts of Abiene.

She moved with the swift confidence of simply knowing. Unexpectedly the stones dissolved into pure magicka instead of air. Abiene withdrew the blade, chasing it with her spell. Maxical’s wounds closed under Abiene’s light.

Abiene blinked until her eyes saw the room again. “That was part one. How are we doing?” she said.

[Black Hand]

Seth prepared a small tea-smelling concoction to help her stay calm. It wasn't much more than some plants and herbs that possessed qualities similar to the 'Calm' spell of illusion, but affected the user much more subtly than it, and with much less of a sudden 'drop' after the spell ended. Even he used it from time to time. It especially helped when those situations arose that he couldn't keep his hand from shaking. As rare as they were.

Sethyas watched with a clinical fascination and admired the skill. Abiene was quite confident in her realm. He also noticed how she had no tremor to her hands, and the way viscera did nothing to visibly shake her.

Another similarity we opposites possess. He thought wryly.

He knew a couple of very basic spells, such as 'Flame' or 'Heal' which any child of eight from primary school could do and usually were taught, and he'd once explored the College of Illusion, many decades ago. But his skill had withered to nearly naught over the years in favor of Alchemy.

She was more than welcome to any magicka he possessed.

He held her hand, and kept his other hand on Maxical's wrist to monitor her pulse, and kept an eye on her facial expressions to try to determine how resolute she really was. It was one thing to say that one could stomach being stabbed, and it was entirely another to have it done.

Regardless, despite the elevated vital signs, she kept her face and eyes forward into a sort of perfect calm. A Battle Trance almost.

You are one tough kitty. He thought in admiration. How you remind me of Ahnassi.

The Welkynd stone fragments dissolved into flitting light of pure magicka. His brows raised in a pleasant surprise. Even two centuries into life, and he could still see new things.

“That was part one. How are we doing?” Abiene inquired after seeming like she were a thousand leagues off.

"I'm good." He reported.