Playing the Part

My eyes widened after she said that. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted and my body was starting to respond. But could I mix pleasure with our current relationship? Could we be in a guild with others like this? What about my relationship with Floriana? Was I just overthinking this?

I decided to let go of my fears and started to lean in.

"Just kidding." She patted my chest and moved towards the bed. On the side table she spun the iron ball to give us a few minutes to talk.

"If we're going to play this off, it's best if I play sick like planned." She popped a lime green pill in her mouth.

I clenched my jaw knowing that it was for the best that we followed the plan as agreed. Absolutely for the best. I was positive about that. No doubt in my mind.

I became even more sure that it was the right idea as she pulled out a chamber pot and expelled her dinner. The previous response my body had went away as I held her hair back.

"Thank you. I didn't think it would happen that fast." She said.

"At least it isn't as bad as what I gave that merchant. His will be coming out of both ends for a few days." I said.

She started to retch but nothing came out. "What type of person is Thelora if she has this type of stuff on hand?"

"She's a wily one, that's for sure." I said.

"How many plans do you think she has to kill us?" She said.

"At least a half a dozen. I wouldn't be surprised if the groundwork has already been laid for a few." I then picked up the iron ball, knowing that if someone was trying to listen in, it would be too suspicious if it went too long without them being able to do so.

For the next hour she was slumped over the chamber pot letting the pill do its work. I kept her hair out of the way and rubbed her back for comfort. Every once and a while I handed her a water flask for her to wash her mouth out. Once her stomach was empty she laid down on her side.

A knock soon came to our door. I left Lariss on the bed having a good idea who it was. Holy Knight Renata and priest Sveinn were standing on the other side.

"Can we have a moment of your time?" Renata said.

"My companion isn't feeling that well, could we wait till tomorrow?" I said.

She looked past me. "Sveinn could take care of that."

I tried my best to look distrusting but let him in.

"Brynja, how are you feeling?" I said. Lariss leaned on her elbow when I said her fake name.

"A little better. I'm sorry." She said.

"You know you have a low tolerance, next time I won't let you have more than one." I said.

"Thank you Halli." She replied.

"Now this kind gentleman is going to help you out, is that okay?" I asked.

Lariss nodded. Sveinn placed his hand on her forehead, chanted a quick prayer, and his hand glowed for a moment. She took a deep breath as he removed his hand.

"That feels a lot better." She said.

"Now perhaps the two of you can tell me what you're doing here?" Renata said.

"Why do you need to know?" I said.

"I find it highly suspicious that the two of you cause a disturbance while someone was committing murder and theft right outside the inn." She said.

"So you think we had something to do with that?" We knew it would be too much of a coincidence and there was a good chance that the Followers of the Holy Light would come after us. The thought of running had crossed our minds but there was a good chance that they'd hunt us down after having seen our faces.

"We need to investigate all possibilities." She said.

"We're adventures that just had a rather difficult quest. She had to spend weeks recovering and we decided to take some time off of taking jobs and are looking to improve our skills by doing a little wandering." I said.

Renata looked towards Sveinn, who gave her a little nod. "Do you have any relation with those that killed the guards and stole the wagon?"

"I don't know who did the killing or stole the wagon." There was a good chance that they were using a spell to determine how truthful I was being. Thelora had given me some hints on how to get around those types of spells that included rotating my own psychic mote, steady breathing, and being partially truthful. I didn't know who killed who or which one was actually driving the wagon.

"Where do you intend to go from here?" She asked.

"We were thinking of heading off the main roads for a while. Possibly run into some monsters." I said.

"That's a bit reckless." She said.

I shrugged. "That's our choice."

"I don't have any more questions. Thank you for your time and sorry for disturbing you tonight." She and Sveinn turned to leave.

"What happened with the pursuit? Were you able to catch up to them?" I asked.

"A few miles outside of the village we found the wagon burning off the road. They had a few trails laid by magic and it took some time to figure out which one was real. There was a good chance it will be a long pursuit. I left someone else in charge and came back here." She said.

"Just so you could ask us some questions?" I said.

"They didn't need me and I needed to either confirm or deny the suspicions I had about you. If you were in league with them, it might have been faster to just get you to tell us where they were headed." She said.

"I guess I'm thankful that we couldn't help in the end." I said.

"Yes, you should be." The two of them then left the room.

"Can you put out the light and come to bed? My stomach and head feel better but I just want to sleep." Lariss said.

"As you wish." I blew out the candles and joined her.

There was no room for us to be separated and share the bed. After we removed our armor and other uncomfortable items, I ended up having to be the big spoon to her little spoon. She also had herself bent in a way that I had to have my butt almost off the bed in order to avoid her feeling how my lower regions felt about the situation.

I heard her open her mouth to say something but just closed it. There were things I would have asked her but we didn't know if anyone was trying to listen in. In the end we fell asleep without saying anything. I awoke in the morning with her wrapped in my arms that had been at my sides last night. Her waist was also pressed into mine causing the obvious reaction.

It felt nice and reminded me of waking up with Sara. From her breathing I had the feeling that she was awake. Without comment I stretched and sat up.

"That was a pleasant sleep." I said.

"Mmmm, what?" She pretended to just wake up.

I leaned down and whispered in her ear. "We could stay in bed for a few more hours like young lovers would, if you want."

She looked at me like a deer in the headlights not expecting me to be this forward.

"Just kidding." I tweaked her nose and got out of bed. She giggled at me and I could see a faint hint of disappointment.

After we got fully dressed we headed down to the common room. We were greeted by a young female gnome behind the bar and told that breakfast would be bread, meats, and cheeses. After taking the same table as last night we started whispering and giggling to each other as a waitress brought our meal.

"When is the apothecary going to get here?" One of the merchant guards asked the gnome behind the bar.

"Shouldn't be too long. Is he still sure he doesn't want one of the priests to look at him?" She asked.

"He was very adamant." He said.

"Then he'll have to wait." She said.

The guard wasn't too happy about it. As he turned to head back upstairs he noticed me and gave me a scowl before leaving. We soon finished up, paid, and made our way to our horses. In the courtyard for the stables, several of the Followers of the Holy Light were returning.

"I wanted you to follow them for a few days if necessary." Renata was speaking to Turnus who was dismounting.

"Why? It's their property and we have other matters to attend to." Turnus said.

"The Relic isn't going anywhere but I'm not sure that it was their property." She countered.

"Maybe we should hold this conversation until we're alone?" Matrium Myrgol had noticed that we had entered the stables.

"Are you two off for some 'training'?" From Renata's tone, I could tell she still didn't fully believe we weren't connected to the robbery.

"Yes and I wish you all luck on your Relic Hunt." I said. The Church of the Holy Light had 12 official High Holy Relics. During their witch hunts centuries ago the Nlorthen witches had stolen 7 of them. While I didn't know much about the doctrine of the Church, not many children in the kingdom hadn't heard famous tales of Relic hunters.

"And I wish you luck as well." Renata headed back into the inn followed by the other Followers.

Lariss and I saddled our horses and prepared to leave. With a quick glance I looked at the merchant's cart and wondered which barrel they had hidden what we were after.

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See Author's Thoughts for future plans.