Wage War *Obi x OC* (COMPLETE)

Every Lamp and Candle

Obi---

I do my best to calm her down though she still doesn't seem to be here in the present with me. The screaming finally stops and turns into tears silently streaming down her face. I press a kiss to her forehead before carefully picking her up and carrying her out of the home. Before I leave, I pause in the doorway and apologize to the mother and daughter for disturbing their home, then I lock the door and shut it behind me. I killed Reim just past their yard in the woods so his disgusting spirit wouldn't harass theirs for eternity.

Arowen and I make it home without crossing anyone, royal or otherwise. She fell asleep shortly after we left the cottage and is still sleeping soundly. I would put her to bed but she's covered in blood, so I find a towel to place on the couch first before putting her on it. I'll clean her up a little, then I'll put her to bed. So far everything seems easy to remedy with bandages rather than stitches. She's better off physically than I'd anticipated but I'm not sure on her mental state though. I won't be able to tell anything further until she wakes up again. I just hope she's okay. What did he do to her?

I wake up to Arowen crying. I shift in bed and pull her into my arms. I quietly ask what's wrong but she just clings to me like I'm the only thing keeping her on the earth. I hold her tightly and run my hand through her hair. In between sniffles, I hear her quietly speaking, asking why it's so dark. It reminds me of what she was saying when I found her. It's not pitch black, but it is rather dark since it's the middle of the night. I untangle myself from her just enough to light the oil lamp on the table so she can see.

"If this isn't enough light, let me know and I will find every lamp and candle in this house until it looks like we're living on the sun."

She lets out a very small attempt at a laugh before clinging to me again. "Are you really here?"

"Yes, I'm here and you're safe. Reim is very, very much dead. Like so dead his head is nowhere near his body, so there's no chance he'll return."

"Reim was the least of my concerns..." She whispers. "You'd think in our line of work, I wouldn't fear the dark so badly, but pitch blackness completely terrifies me..."

I kiss her head and offer her a small smile. "I promise no matter what I'll make sure you're never in the dark again."

"I love you Obi."

"I love you too Arowen."

When I wake up again, Arowen is gone. It never ends well when this happens. I'd tried to stay awake after she fell asleep again so the lamp would still be lit if she woke up, but I guess it didn't work. I can hear movement in the next room so I guess that's a good sign at least. I get to my feet and stretch as I head toward the door. Arowen is cleaning when I find her, a rag in one hand, a cigarette and bottle of rum in the other. She's hurting, but this time I already know about her injuries.

"Good morning."

She pauses briefly to greet me halfheartedly before returning to obsessively scrubbing the windowsill. At this point, I'm not sure there's even paint left from how hard she's scrubbing. I sigh and shake my head before moving to take the rag from her.

"I hope you realize that cleaning like this while you're in pain will only make it worse, right?"

"Yeah, but what else do I have to do?" She shrugs. "I'm never eating breakfast again after all."

"You'll eat breakfast again." I chuckle.

"Everytime I try I almost die!" She whines as she unsteadily turns to face me.

I pull her into a hug and smile as she grumbles complaints.

"How about this? We'll go together to a different market to finally get some food and I'll make you the best breakfast ever."

"What if I die this time?"

"I won't let you die, my little drunk, you just have to trust me."

After I get both of us cleaned up, I hold her hand as we leave the house in search of food. I'm not sure if the prince and his people are still at the castle but I'm not going to risk us going back to the market again. I'll take her somewhere else this time. I know a very reclusive man who owns a rather large section of land. He has a small grouping of fruit trees and some farm land. He owes me a favor or two, so I'm going to hit him up for some food. I'll let Arowen pick whatever she wants and I'll cook for her when we return.

Arowen and I return home a short while later with a wicker basket full of fruit, vegetables, eggs, and some of Vrei's freshly butchered pork. He didn't mind us coming and even gave us more than what we needed for breakfast to repay one of my favors. She seems to be in a better mood now, even humming under her breath as we walk, though it may simply be that she smuggled another bottle of rum and drank it along the way. My good mood sours though as I spot Kitty lounging against the side of the house with her arms over her chest. How does she even know where we live?

"Kitty!"

"Kitty." I sigh as I pass by.

"Cretin." She shoots back before looking over at Arowen with a serious expression. "Wenny, we need to talk for a moment..."

I reluctantly let her inside and they settle on the couch while I put the food away. They chat for a few minutes before things seem to go back to serious.

"I heard about it from the prince... Wenny, your father is gravely ill. The herbalists have given him a week... and since you mysteriously vanished, Opalia is set to take over everything from the home to the finances. I just thought you should know." 

A/N: Pic above is Vrei, even though he's just mentioned(: