The TwiceBorn

All Hours Are Midnight Now

  "To deny is to invite madness. To accept is to control."--Megan Chance           

  Silently, she lifted the reins and Loki began moving through the underbrush again as Blixen sniveled and pulled on himself,dejectedly.

‘I know I’m a lesser demon,” He whimpered. ‘You don’t have to be cruel.  But I did what you asked.  I warned them to return to where ever they came from,and told them  that they would regret following you.”

And maybe some part of that was true, Alora would never know for sure.  One thing though, if they no longer had horses to ride, they’d have to find somewhere to buy two more. If they had the coin.  Knowing what she did about Behrin and his need for control, she seriously doubted if he’d sent them on the road with enough coin for new mounts. 

She sighed.  It wouldn’t do her any good to ream Blixen over anything he’d done.  His sniveling was just as annoying as his shrieking.

“Good goblin.”  She said and reached up with her free hand and patted him apologetically on his head.  He beamed beneath her touch and pushed his head up into her palm like a house cat.  An ugly, greasy, over-endowed house cat.  She shook her head.  He always had been a slyboots little bastard, more so than the other goblins, and his tricks could be fun. As long as she wasn’t the butt of them.

She continued to pat him, unaware of how his little hooves had begun to dance against her shoulder.  His bristly bobtail started to twitch excitedly against her back until he could no longer control himself.  Desperate and grinning, his tongue unrolling like a dog’s on a hot day, he scrabbled for her hand with sticky fingers and attempted to pull it downward. 

Alora yanked away then swiftly backhanded him and sent him spinning off her shoulder.  Her skin crawled as she wiped her hand rapidly back and forth against her leathers.

Little sonofabitch.

“Don’t you ever do that again!”

Blixen got to his feet and looked around for his cap, which had gone sailing off into the night.  Finding it, he jammed it down on his head and grinned at her.

“You can’t blame me for trying,” He simply said as she glared at him. ‘If I promise to keep my hands to myself, can I ride in with you?”

“Are you kidding me?”  She retorted angrily. “You can walk.”

Blixen shook his head somberly.

“You and I need to talk, Alora the Twiceborn.  No tricksy behavior, I vow.  Let me tell you what you need to know before you meet Yzebel.”

Alora studied him for a few moments.

“Come on.  Climb up by the saddle though, and not by Loki’s tail.”

She shifted impatiently as Blixen climbed aboard, laughing and jabbering, and seated himself between Loki’s ears.  With a quick snatch, she impatiently tossed him, once again, onto her shoulder.

“I was only going to point out the way to you.” He protested as he sat down.  Alora ignored him as Loki began tossing his head to rid himself of the goblin he still imagined to be seated between his ears.

 Soothingly, she rested a hand on his neck until he calmed then urged him forward through the brush.  Blixen remained still for a few moments then leaned over and whuffled his baggy little nose along her neck. She swatted at him but he danced out of reach.

“You reek of her, you know,” He whispered. “It’s like…like…lilacs and lavender…and sweet.  Soooo sweet.  Oil from ancient urns.  Your secret is no longer your own, Alora the Twiceborn. Yzebel knows.”