Faerie Faerie

11- Scatter Brained

Lyle tried to open the door, a few minutes with her comrades would have her head clear. Then she would hear what he had to say. They did this when they were kids, she'd yell and scream at him, and run off. A few hours later, she would come back and be calmed down.

Something blocked the knob mid-turn. He frowned, and a sinking feeling filled his gut. "Phoenix! Phoenix open the door!" His fist pounded on the wood. "Phinny!"

He hit the door with his fist a few more times before giving it a shoulder ram. The door came off it's hinges, collapsing in a clatter on the floor along with it's hinges and part of a chair. Phoenix sat crosslegged from the lycan, some fruit in her mouth and in her hand. She bit through the unskinned pear and looked at him.

"Why did you block the door." He motioned to the door behind him.

"Why did you lock him up." Phoenix thumbed towards Wolfe, who was chewing something. Lyle looked at her hands, she held the fruit his prisoner had taken a bit of. "He's practically harmless."

"We found the villagers." Lyle said, his eyes on Wolfe.

Wolfe chewed thoroughly, avoiding confrontation easily.

The captain sneered. "Aren't you going to defend your actions?"

Phoenix took a bite of her pear loudly. "Why." she said. "You already think us guilty, and you know it's true." No decorum, speaking with her mouth full, and sitting on the floor like a man. Lyle was irked and slightly disgusted by the way his cousin acted.

"They were innocent people Phinny--"

"To hell with innocence! They killed my horse! They tried to kill me!" she crushed the half eaten fruit in her hand. "Maybe they didn't deserve to die, but they forced my hand."

"It's never your fault is it Phoenix!" Lyle was tired of her excuses. "First the sorcery, the shamanism, the books, the travels, the smuggling-- You're making yourself infamous by running the family's name through the dirt!"

Phoenix crouched and and shot up like a cat. She threw a handful of cooked grain, some sort of gruel, at his face. It was luke warm, and made a mess of his uniform.

"Your family and my family are two different things!" she shouted. "If we had such bonds, you claim we do, I would not be considered an outlaw in all of the Southerlands!" Lyle gripped her hand, using his free hand to clear his face. She tugged and pulled

"You're right, Phinny," he growled, patience run thin. "And Lorelai wouldn't be in the trouble she is now would she."

Phoenix's face turned blank. "What about my mother."

"Your Infamy exceeded your Nobility." Lyle flung the gruel off his fingers onto the floor. "Siding with She who Hails from the Land of Blue... And ingesting dark spirits such as that demonic fire... Your crimes merely had to be paid by someone."

Her resistance was slacked, her eyes wide. "I... What..." Her mouth felt like it was full of sand. Phoenix's tongue struggled to form words in the central dialect and she slurred in her native language. She formed a fist and punched and slapped his chest.

Lyle grabbed her hands and drew her close. Phoenix's face was twisted in a pained and furious form. "A woman such as Lorelai did not deserve a daughter such as you. A traitor. A Murderer. A Witch!" When she tried to pull away, he knew it was because she was close to tears. He would not give her such mercy. "It was proclaimed that she was trialed."

"Stop."

"And found guilty."

"Stop it!"

"Of witchcraft."

"Oh god would you shut up you piece of--"

"And put to death."

All the air was sucked out her lungs. It was then that Lyle released her. Phoenix stumbled backwards, her foot catching on a tray and falling on her rear on the floor. Her gown was splattered with fruit and rice porridge. Phoenix looked very empty. Wolfe turned and looked up at Lyle.

"Heartless coward." he spat.

Lyle did not care to give his cousin salvation anymore. He was the one to administer her... 'medicine'. He had seen the marks on her skin, tattoos, scars, burns. She had become something wicked, ugly from when she was once a girl.

"This is the road you've paved, Phinny, I'm sorry to say you must walk it." he glared at the Lycan. "I hope you both burn in Helhelm for this. And If the Magistrate of the area gets the Inquisition from his Lord Grengal, that should be soon."

Phoenix gripped her gown. "A curse upon you, Cousin." she said, hair in her face, eyes not visible. "A curse upon your.... your Looord. His Kingliness!" Tears streamed her cheeks. "Blood to blood, ashes to ashes. A curse upon everything that is his! He is no Vreshara! No Jutani, no Lokee!"

Lyle irked away from her, a small jolt in his stance."The Gods of Old have no power over his Majesty!"

"Ignorant child." she sniffled. "A curse a curse a curse." She ran a filthy hand through her hair, leaving streaks of food and ale in her locks. She stood up, and Lyle's world tilted slightly. She kissed her finger tips, then pressed her fingers to his mouth. "Sealed with a kiss. heheh."

He looked hard at her, but his insides were shaken. Lyle turned, retrieving something from a soldier outside the room. Metal shackles. Phoenix looked at the binds, then held out her hands.

As he held them over her wrists, her fingers entwined with the chains and she whipped them away. She held them like a flail and struck the man in the temple. He crumpled like a cut stock of corn. Another guard came in, charging straight for her. Phoenix hooked her foot on the leg of a stool, and sent it flying at the man. With the kick, she turned and dodged his strike. The rotation was completed when she struck him down with the shackles.

Phoenix patted them down until she found the keys. She unlocked Wolfe, then looked at the two downed men. Phoenix's damp face broke into a grin. "Undress Wolfe, we're getting out of here."

*~*~*~*~*

It had taken a little bit of time, no more than an hour to find her partner. By the time Snow returned with horses and supplies, the Tavern was in in an uproar about three escaped prisoners. She even saw Lyle out of uniform, wearing some thread bare peasant tunic and britches. That sent her and her partner into a laughing fit.

"Guess they made it out." he chuckled. He adjusted his dark brown hood, looking at Snow's maroon and silver cloak.

"She always did make quite the ruckus." Snow laughed. "Best of wishes them." Her gaze turned to him, a wily vixen of a grin. "Let's find a town with a villa. My feet ache and my soul aches with all this bloodshed." She righted her horse on the road that led out the village.

He chuckled. "As you wish, Princess." He was greeted with a harsh punch in the arm. "Ach!"

"Snow." she growled playfully. "Forever Snow."

"Heh, no. You'll forever be my Princess." he replied, rubbing his arm. "I love you."

Snow snapped her reigns and was yards ahead of him. She was blushing, a scowl on her face. "Love you too."