[While on a rescue mission gone crazed, a holy warrior and a rogue fight bandits, demons, and the urge to rip each other's clothes off.]
The mission, rescuing a princess, could be going better.
Séa is an earnest paladin, honest and gullible. Tash is...
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Tash indicated the room. "Zorexis was right. This is a dead end."
"We're done scouting? All right."
They picked their way out of the moldering torture pit at a snail's pace. Tash pointed her purloined iron strut at the paladin. "Your turn. The adamant dirk."
Séa drew in a breath. "I suppose I must. Well, you know our king, King Pharing. He's a young man, very popular and coming into his proper manhood. Do you know why he is king?"
Probably the usual route: he was a prince, first. "I'm not from Omnius, Séa. Also, I'm a terrible historian. So, no."
Séa inclined her head in her placid way of moving. "I remember, now. Ghomarck said you're from Liria, same as him. Well, the elder King of Omnius perished in an ambush, early on in the Uncivil War. His body fell into a river and it washed for leagues and leagues downstream. When they fished out the corpse, it was missing the family heirlooms. The Adamant Dirk, always sharp and unbreakable. The Ring of Ether, not sure what that's about. And the Boots of Booty."
Tash's snicker of amusement echoed in the dungeon. "Boots of Booty, eh? Are they capable of kicking bottom, then?"
"Gracious, Tash. No. It's more along your line of ... occupation. It is said that the wearer is granted a boon of luck."
"I stand corrected, and honestly, I'd wear those." She frowned for a moment. "If they were stylish, that is."
Silence reigned for a moment.
Tash glanced at Séa, who was staring into the darkness ahead. "Something wrong?"
The paladin's eyes scanned aimlessly. "No? Maybe? I felt something, but it's gone, now. Where was I? Oh, yeah, the quest. A call went out for able-bodied individuals to search along the river for the artifacts. Frullan Sunstar and I answered the call. Our relationship had soured by then, and I knew she didn't want to continue along the Path of Torugg's Grace like I did. She's so pretty, she got more attention. And she saw the world differently than I did."
Tash raised her candle to study Séa's pensive expression. She's holding back.
The paladin became aware of the scrutiny and flicked her eyes over to the rogue's. "What?"
"I'm absorbing your words. Such as 'relationship' and 'pretty.' I'm inferring that you and Frullan..."
The wavery candlelight illuminated enough of Séa's face to show her creeping blush. "Dang, Tash. I can't keep secrets from you."
That face. That blush. My ear tips are tingling again. "You can't keep secrets, period. So you and Frullan were—?"
"We, um, discovered sex together. That's about it, really. All there is to say. Puppy love." Séa's face and eyes pleaded as they searched Tash's.
Tash felt her expression soften. She said, "You never forget your first." By the gods, is that low, fuzzy voice mine? Cinch it up, Tash. Get a grip. "Now go on about the Adamant Dirk."
