Thirteen Rings

Chapter Two

"I'm surprised you actually managed to pull this off." Sylvia murmured in awe, retrieving the blood diamond from the centre of the kitchen table.

"I did a little more than just that." Darius grinned triumphantly, removing the rest of the treasure from his person and placing them all in front of the young woman.

"What did you do?" Her emerald eyes grew wide; tenderly she placed the necklace back down, and, picking up a jade circlet as Darius placed the sword on the table, before removing the vambrace.

"The job." Shrugging off his trenchcoat and winking mischievously at Sylvia, who stuck out her tongue in response. "And a little bit extra."

"Well you're not wrong." She admitted, exacerbated, before placing the circlet on her head. "Is this on right?"

"Not quite." He replied, adjusting it slightly above her ginger fringe. Rising to her feet, she excitedly rushed to the living room.

"Are you going to sell them all?" Her muffled voice called from the other room, laced with curiosity.

"Most of them, are you wanting to keep something?" Massaging his temples, he sat down.

"Just this one."

"Can you get in touch with some people?"

"This stuff won't be easy to move."

"I'm sure you'll find someone." He replied, leaning back in the chair and rolling up his sleeves. "You always do."

"For general items." Her face popped into the hallway, hair cascading from her head like a crimson waterfall. "These are a little more specialized than I'm used to."

"I have full confidence in your abilities." Smirking at her, he propped his feet up on the table.

"You better not be doing what I think you're doing." Her footsteps echoed through the hall as she made her way back into the kitchen. Upon seeing him, a frown furrowed across her forehead and she swiped at his legs. "I just cleaned that you bastard."

"My table." He replied, keeping his muddy boots firmly in place.

"And? When was the last time you cleaned it?" She demanded, shoving his feet onto the floor with a heavy thud. "When you actually clean it, feel free to put your feet all over it."

"You need to get out more." Laughing, he flexed his neck, trying to remove any kinks he could feel inside it.

"I get out plenty." A hint of annoyance laced it's way into her voice. "How else would we get any food in?"

"I bring some back," He began, thinking back to the last time he actually did. "Sometimes."

"Rarely."

"Regardless, you should go out with some friends sometime." He waved off the topic of food as his stomach rumbled.

"Friends?" She almost seemed to spit the word. "What friends?"

"You have plenty of them, what about that Sebastian?"

"Oh please." She scoffed, her gaze turning hard. "Turns out, he was only interested in one thing."

A wave of realisation washed over Darius, as if he'd been plunged into a freezing lake. "What did he do?" He demanded, fury bubbling inside him.

"Nothing I couldn't handle." Turning her head to the side, refusing to meet his eyes.

"What did he do!?" The repeated words seemed to shock her as his wrath became uncontainable.

"He tried to get me to do certain... things with him." Sylvia Nobleblade finally yielded, the all too familiar strength leaving her voice.