No Good Deed [ATTN: Drak]

[Guest Estel]

One question haunts and hurts

Too much, too much to mention

Was I really seeking good

Or just seeking attention?

Is that all good deeds are when looked at with an ice cold eye?

If that’s all good deeds are

Maybe that’s the reason why

No good deed goes unpunished

All helpful urges should be circumvented

No good deed goes unpunished

Sure I meant well, well look at what well-meant did!

Alright, enough, so be it!

So be it then…

(No Good Deed- Wicked)

 

The feel of death was there, even if it was too fresh for the stink to start.  The room was cold but it had nothing to do with the corpse in the middle of the floor.  Breeches around his ankles it somehow felt disrespectful to leave him like that.  Well-toned muscles and knives had proved useless once he dropped his breeches.  Her knife was sunk hilt-deep just below his naval.  His face was frozen perpetually in lustful anticipation.  She had hated his face.  Unshaven, gaunt and greasy he had reminded her of many of the patrons from The Fortress of the Light, the Amadician hell she had lived in for a month before her mother died and her father took her to the real Fortress.

 

The stink wouldn’t come until much later, truthfully she hadn’t even killed him yet, he was just paralysed.  In fact, as he was, it was unlikely he’d die for a few hours but Jes wasn’t about to just leave him to die- that would be cruel.

 

Still naked, it was so hard to get blood out of clothes, she straddled his middle, smiling sweetly.  Unable to whimper or react, his pupils raced around in their sockets, searching for some way out.  There would be no way out.  He couldn’t move, couldn’t feel and couldn’t save himself.  It was a shame he couldn’t feel.

 

“I sure hope you’re not married, it’d be a shame if your wife had to learn her husband was found upstairs, a knife wound in his belly and his pants around his ankles.  And of course, they’ll remember me.  The whore you paid… or well, will be paying once you’re dead.  I don’t believe we settled for a cost?  I’ll just take whatever you’ve got then.  And if no one remembers that you went upstairs with a whore, I guess I’ll just leave my mark.”

 

She grinned wickedly and then twisted the mini-seax around in the wound.  He couldn’t feel it, but the jagged blade was wreaking havoc on his small intestine.  Once happy that he’d die in oh, only a few hours- she yanked her knife from his abdomen and the set about to carving her mark on his bare chest.

 

Some time later saw her washing the last remnants of blood from her hand, chest and face while the corpse bled out in the middle of the floor it steady beats.  Having secured his purse and knives, the latter of which she was hoping to sell, the former to drink part of away.  With a final laugh in his direction, she headed back to the commonroom, fully changed.

[Myth]

Drak pushed open the swinging door with the back of his left hand and stepped into the inn’s common room. It wasn’t really an inn, although it had a few rooms upstairs to rent. It wasn’t the sort of place you’d likely find a family resting for the night, or a family man either, for that matter. It was a bit rough, was the Highwayman’s Refuge, and the common room was only common in the more dangerous parts of the world’s cities. It paid to be careful when one entered.

 

Keeping his sword hand free, his saddlebags slung over his left shoulder, his bedroll and assorted gear in his left hand, the young vagabond paused just inside the doorway to allow his eyes to adjust to the dim light. He looked directly into the darkest corners of the room to help his vision adjust more quickly, and then he found an empty table along one wall.

 

Walking toward it, his spurs clinking softly but unheard over the singer’s off-key voice and the un-tuned lute she was playing, he coolly scanned the room. Few met his blue eyes, but those who did suddenly found a reason to avert their gaze, although none would have admitted it. Weakness was preyed upon here, like wolves culling a crippled elk from the herd.

 

What those few saw was a tall, deeply tanned, mercenary. Or so he appeared.

 

His clothes and cloak were heavily worn, their originally dark hues faded now to a non-descript non-color, and dusty from the road. His boots, although well made, were heavily scuffed. His black hair, grown just past his collar, was slightly curly and damp with sweat from the steel helm that he placed on the table. The chainmail hood hung un-used on his back. His face was covered with three days’ growth of stubble. The gear he carried was typical of a traveling soldier and not worth a second glance. Only his armor and sword were in top-notch condition. And his horse, but he was outside.

 

The chainmail that he wore under his tunic, and even showed through in a few places, was of the best Andoran steel, as was his helm. His sword was another matter, but that was not something he often discussed. Besides, no one would notice it unless he needed to kill someone. His bracers and gloves, were scarred and worn, but obviously of good quality. And it was all done for a reason.

 

All in all, he looked like a wolf on the prowl. An apt metaphor, considering he wanted something to eat.

 

After taking his seat with his back to the wall, and turned so he could keep an eye on the door, he placed an order with a serving girl, dropped his gear behind him against the wall, unslung his sword from over his shoulder and propped it against the table leg, and sat down.

 

It will be good to relax for a bit, he thought amusedly as he scanned the room again, chuckling softly. And with such fine company, I’m sure it will be a very restful night.

[Guest Estel]

Few noticed as a small, hooded form sidled up to the bar.  A silver mark, hastily scrubbed on the cloak when she noticed it was sticky and covered in blood, slid across the pock-marked wooden plank that served as the bar.  A few moments later a sloshing tankard of beer slid back in exchange.  Her tab for the night was paid unless she found herself haunted by any more dreams.

 

Spinning around on the stool, she surveyed the room.  The better part of the patrons had still been here when she went up the stairs.  Her victim’s dicing partners didn’t seem all that loathe to be rid of him- he had been winning.  The room being sparse in the form of patrons, only two others had entered the inn in her absence and she only had eyes for the one.

 

Tall, dark and handsome, he reminded her of Diego… or Daved.  No, definitely Diego, they were the same man but circumstances had changed her and Ana had been completely different from Jessika as Jesebal was now a completely different persona than Ana.  All four of her various selves had had rapidly depleting levels of innocence from naïve Kristina to love-sick Jessika and then the married murderess Ana.  Every scrap of innocence, conscience and moral integrity had now been boiled away to reveal Jesebal- the Black Widow.

 

He looked like a fighting man.  Strong, powerful and yet he sat in the corner, away from the centre of attention such man usually loved.  Intriguing.  His armour looked well-made from what she saw of it and well-kept besides.  Perhaps he had more coin than the unfortunate man still bleeding out on her floor.  Idly she wondered if her were dead yet.  Or if the paralysis were wearing off.  That would be a disaster, but it was unlikely he could move given his condition so she should be safe.

 

A raised eyebrow and a meaningful glance to his corner at the innkeep sent another pair of tankards her way.  Pushing back the hood of her cloak, she swayed over to where he sat, presumptuously plopping herself on his lap.

 

“So my love, what does a soldier like you want tonight?”

[Myth]

He saw her coming towards him. She was certainly a lovely eyeful, her curvaceous figure accentuated by the tight-fitting, low-cut dress with the slit up the thigh, still visible despite the cloak. Purposefully so, I imagine, Drak thought to himself as he watched her approach from the corner of his eye, never taking his focus off the meal before him. I doubt this is her first trip to town, he added with a wry chuckle. Her sultry sway drew the eyes of the room’s men like honey draws flies.

 

More like a spider weaving its web. A black widow spider in that get up, methinks, he thought with a sardonic grin.

 

He was surprised at her boldness when she plopped into his lap, but he probably shouldn’t have been. A woman that looks like her in a place like this is used to getting what she wants, I imagine, he reflected on second thought. Her words were tired and clichéd. He wasn’t surprised by them at all.

 

Nudging her off him with an elbow and a stern look, he pushed back a chair so she could share his table if she still wanted to. It was on the opposite side of the table from him, though.

 

“I’m here to get a pint, a bite, and some sleep tonight,” he answered humorously, his relaxed tone and genuinely charming smile an attempt to defuse the rebuff from the moment before. “As for your love… well, let’s just say I’m not convinced it’s worth the cost, milady.” With a wink and a devilish grin, he added with a nonchalant wave toward her cleavage, “But I’d enjoy some good conversation, if you’ve room for any of that squeezed in there somewhere.”

 

Scanning the room once again, he continued to eat. His relaxed behavior not disturbed in the slightest by the murderous glare she was giving him.

[Guest Estel]

‘Bastard.’

 

But she was genuinely amused.  Most of the men in the tavern would have had her over their shoulder and up the stairs before her skirts even brushed their knees.  That only made her job so much easier.  This one though…  Intriguing, mysterious.  She might not even kill this one, just because he was good.  Damn he was good.  Letting the cloak slip from her shoulders she smirked, taking his proffered chair and leaning her elbows on the table.  Oh he couldn’t help but look.  He was a man and she a woman, she had that over him already.

 

“Must be lonely out there; roughing it miles from any other human companionship.  And killing people…” she gave a completely feigned shiver.  No doubt she had killed far more people and far more gruesomely than he had.  “Must give you nightmares, you shouldn’t sleep alone without anyone to console you if you wake up sweating in the night.”

 

Her words didn’t seem to have much effect except that he smirked back at her.  Bastard was making her work for it.  This would make it all the more sweeter in the end… at least it had better.

 

“Ain’t no milady’s here, baby, and I got all night to talk.”

[Myth]

The young mercenary took his time looking at the lovely, and bountiful, wares she had on display. Her goods, which she thrust proudly in his direction, were certainly as fine as one could find anywhere, but he had no intention of purchasing her services. No, a man got what he paid for in this life. And I think she would cost me more than I could afford, he thought whimsically, the line of thought carrying much deeper meaning than the words might suggest.

 

Letting his eyes caress her body like a lover’s fingers, he noticed the telltale bulges about her that were not a part of what her mother gave her, their presence proving that this Spider would bite.No, I don’t think I want this Black Widow to sink her teeth into me, Drak thought wryly, grinning just a little.

 

Finally acknowledging her words, he leaned back casually as he spoke.

 

“Sometimes the road can be rough, it’s true. But I’ve got my horse to keep me company, and he’s always there to lend an ear when I need to talk. He doesn’t say much, though.” Chuckling with true mirth, he continued. “But killing people? Why, my dear, why would I want to do such a thing? Killing someone just makes their family or friends angry, and then they would try to kill me. So I would have to kill them, too. Or die, and I prefer not to die just yet. Then their friends would want to kill me, and so on. It would make for a big mess, you see…” he said with a grin, much like a wolf’s might look if he were standing over his prey. 

 

“All the more reason to just talk to my horse while we chase the horizon, or appreciate a good meal, or look at a lovely lady when the chance arises. It’s life’s simple pleasures that give you real joy.”

 

“Killing… it is a messy business.”

[Guest Estel]

Jes had to try very hard to keep from snorting.  The mess was the best part.  Something in his eyes perked her curiosity still though.  ‘Bloody creepy bastard, I’m starting to think.’  No worries though, if he turned out less than satisfactory, she could always kill him and exact a better price.

 

“A philosopher it seems.” she chuckled deep in her throat but honestly his little witticisms were starting to annoy her.  Damn the man, she could see and feel his eyes on her and this wasn’t the first time his brilliant blue eyes had strayed from her face.  If he wanted her, why wasn’t he taking the bait?  Honestly, was he expecting her to strip right there and finish the job?

 

Or was there something else…  If that was it, she was going to laugh.  But him?  A coy virgin?  Highly unlikely.

 

“You like to look?” she leaned farther down on the table, moving her head closer to his though it was hardly supposed to be the centre of attention.  “What kind of a man just likes to look?”  Smirking, she wondered if this stab at his manhood would do the trick.  ‘Damnit bastard, let’s go!’

[Myth]

He grinned widely now as he leaned back, casually asserting control over the situation by showing his lack of interest. His tactics were unexpected, and as such were driving her crazy. Inside and out, he was thoroughly enjoying his evening, which wasn’t something he had expected when he walked through the door.

 

Replying calmly as he deliberately looked around the room, but certainly without letting her out of his gaze, he continued to dictate the terms of their interaction.

 

“Of course I like to look,” he admitted honestly, the admonition softened by the grin never leaving his face. “You are lovely, without a doubt. But any wise man would look before he nibbled on such dangerous fruits. A foolish man might think you had waited your whole life for him to come in and sweep you off your feet, but a suspicious man might wonder why you are so eager.”

 

Wiping the teasing smile off his face and replacing it with one that was warm and inviting, he leaned forward slowly, lowering his voice to little more than a whisper. “Before I go anywhere with you, my lady fair, I want to know what I’m getting into.”

 

Leaning back once again as he took a small sip from his ale, he looked boldly into her eyes, mentally probing the sudden uncertainty in her gaze.

[Guest Estel]

Jes sneered.  Why out of a whole crowd of sex-crazed idiots did she have to pick the man with an actual head on his shoulders?  Blood and ashes, but she’d be damned- or at least more damned than she already was- if she backed out now.  He was certainly not going to survive the night but she had every intention of going through with everything else first.  He was ridiculously good-looking and intelligent after all.  And burn her, he even looked like Diego.

 

“Eager am I?”  Brazenly, she pushed the chair back and settled herself back onto his lap.  She wrapped her arms around his neck, dragging his head down to whisper in his ear.  “How do you know I haven’t mistaken you for a long-lost lover?”  Lips and teeth brushed his ear before she let go.

 

“’What you’re getting into?’” she chuckled richly.  “Hun, I’m just a whore with the rest of the night off and nothing to do.”

[Myth]

His body tingled with pleasure at her attentions. She certainly knows what she’s about, he thought appreciatively.

 

Looking down at his now empty platter and mug and looking around at the sorry lot in this miserable den, he decided he might as well. It’s not like there is a whole lot of other fun options, he jested in his mind. Standing, and unceremoniously pushing her off him, he made his mind up. “My lovely, your charms have wooed me and my heart is captivated. Let us find a more private place to express our tender affections.”

 

Smiling happily at her vexed look, he retrieved his gear and walked to the bartender and paid for a room.

 

Motioning for his dangerously fetching companion to lead him up the stairs, he followed with his belongings draped on his left side except for the sword, which he carried by its sheath in his right hand. As always, in his right hand.

 

Following her just a few steps behind, he couldn’t help but admire the view. She was walking with an exaggerated sway that emphasized the delicious curves of her body. The evening promised to certainly be eventful.

 

When they arrived at the honeymoon suite, he followed her in, never letting her leave his gaze for a second. He was playing with fire, which was undeniably fun. But he, of all people, well knew the dangers of fire. Dumping his gear on the floor, and propping his sword against the wall, he circled the room as she reclined casually on the bed.

 

He lit one candle and placed it on the mantle, then blew out the lamp, throwing the room into a soft, golden light. The kind of light that would flatter her already attractive body. When he was finished, he pulled the room’s lone chair in front of the fireplace and dropped comfortably into it. With a smile of desire, he spoke the first words since they had entered the room.

 

“Will you dance for me?”

[Guest Estel]

‘Finally.’

 

Smirking triumphantly she swayed up the stairs, more than happy with the feel of his eyes following her every movement.  She certainly wasn’t going to kill this one yet, not after he made her work so hard to get him up here.  Entering the room, she went straight to the bed, waiting for him to join her.  Jes almost screamed when he sat in a chair facing her.

 

“Will you dance for me?”

 

She laughed, though not the throaty chuckle she had been using to seduce him.  No, this bordered on the laugh her corpses got as she left them to bleed out.  Sliding from the bed, taking care to show as much thigh as possible, Jes crossed the room over to him.  She smirked while straddling his waist.  Grinding her body against his, she grabbed hold of his head and dragged it down.  “Foreplay?  Hadn’t pegged you as the type.”

 

Oh, that got a reaction but she vacated his lap before he could act on it.

 

Jes wasn’t a Tinker to dance the tiganza, nor was she Saldaean to dance the sa’sara.  Jes was Altaran- and Amadician- so he wasn’t about to get any of the fancy stuff other nations used to tease their men.  This being said, Jes was no virgin.  Her dress was off and her hips rolling as soon as she was gone from his lap.  The two hidden sets of knives, her set of bootknives still hidden, got as appreciative a stare as her generous bosom.

 

“You weren’t expecting the knives, baby?  Or were you just wanting to disarm me yourself?”

[Myth]

Much like the rest of her approach, her dancing lacked subtlety. But he had to admit that she made up for the lack of refinement with energy and animal-like intensity. She wasn’t the most beautiful woman he had ever been with, though she was very pretty, but something about her was completely enthralling. She was like one of those great mountain cats he had seen in the Mountains of Mist, breathtakingly magnificent at least in part because of how lethal she was.

 

This Black Widow truly had dangerous curves.

 

The knives she had strapped around her body at strategic locales, were as alluring as the most intimate lingerie. They heightened the effect of the smoothness of her skin, the fullness of her breasts, the delicacy of the other inviting regions of her body that she so provocatively, and teasingly, revealed to him. Soon, she was completely bare before him, except for the knives she wore. And her boots.

 

He smiled at her question, and allowed a few moments to pass before he answered. She licked her lips wantonly as she posed for him, arching her back and looking back at him over her shoulder as she turned to show off her body to its full effect. His body was responding, too. The combination of her sex appeal and her personal arsenal was having an intoxicating effect on him, and his desire was growing.

 

Looking at her hungrily, he replied, “I knew you had several of them hidden, but you are showing them off in a most appealing way. I’m thinking their maker never expected them to be a part of such a riveting performance.”

 

Pausing momentarily, as he again let his eyes rove lustfully over her naked body, he added, “As for your second question, I am not fool enough to think you were unarmed even if you held no knives. I think you are deadly as a leopard.”

 

Smiling, he crooked a finger and invited her to come to him.

[Guest Estel]

Oh yeah, he wanted her now.  Bastard had made her work for it but hunger filled his eyes now as they drank in her nude body.  ‘That’s right bastard, you just keep looking.’  Jes didn’t bother to smother her smirk.  He crooked his finger expecting her to obey to his needs like he were paying her.  Oh, she’d go but he’d pay.

 

For the fourth time that night, she plopped herself down on his lap.  His hands certainly weren’t pushing her away this time as she wrapped her legs around his waist.  Her teeth bit at the prickly stubble on his neck as her hands worked at relieving him of his clothing.

 

She laughed softly but it had nothing to do with his responding body- at least not in and of itself.  Men were commitment freaks and yet they became homicidally furious when a tease wouldn’t commit.  She’d leave him hanging alright, nearly there; so close, but never getting what he wanted so much right now.  Revenge was so much sweeter now than it would be if she followed through.

 

Her right hand worked at getting his belt buckle undone while the other reached down, unnoticed to her boot.  Funny how men had a thing for women with their boots on.  Poor bastard, it would be his downfall.

 

In one swift movement, she drew the hidden seax, lunging with it at his bare chest.

[Myth]

His hands caressed the smoothness of her skin as she straddled him, the tender, but passionate, kisses on his neck making his body burn with a fever no medicine could cure. She removed his shirt and chainmail with expert, well-practiced fingers, and when her hands began to tug at his belt he could only imagine what pleasures her body had in store for his.

 

He had only an instant to react. Her body tensed unnaturally, at least under the circumstances, and his left hand just managed to catch her right arm as she tried to drive two feet of knife blade into his guts. Before he could wrench her arm and break her neck, he was knocked to the floor by an unseen blow to his face, only the goosebumps on his body giving a clue as to where the blow had come from.

 

She can channel!

 

As quick as thought, he seized saidin and drove a shield between her and the source while at the same time flinging her through the air to SLAM against the wall with enough force to send the candle plummeting to the floor.

 

The whole encounter had lasted just mere moments, but the span of a handful of heartbeats was enough to turn his thoughts to ending life rather than reveling in the joys of it.

 

After retrieving her blade, he walked slowly toward her, not bothering to wipe away the heavy stream of blood that was flowing from his mouth where her club of Air had smashed him. She didn’t bother to scream, dangling from the wall as she was. Things were well past that at this point, and it wasn’t as if anyone would come to check on her if she did. Not here. Not in a place like this.

 

Her hands held high above her by his bonds of Air, he took the time to notice her body one more time before she no longer lived in it, the flickering light of the candle on the floor giving an eerie cast to its golden glow. Her luscious breasts heaved from both her exertion and her fear. They were truly lovely, as was the smooth hairlessness of the rest of her body. All the way down to her boots. There was something undeniably sexy about a naked woman wearing boots that he just couldn’t explain.

 

Too bad, neither one of them would enjoy her body any more…

 

He came close enough that he could have kissed her if he wanted, but he no longer did. His eyes had turned as cold as the heat they had held moments ago. He paused before plunging the knife into her luscious body, then softly, ever so softly, he said, “You made a mistake.”

[Guest Estel]

Her knife arm met resistance far too soon.  Damnit!  How had he known?  In a bare fraction of a second, triumph turned to terror and an invisible force bashed him across the face, forcing him back.  Knowing she only had seconds, reflex more than thought drew the mini-seax from her arm sheath and flexed her arm back to throw it…

 

Too late.

 

Faster than her eye could follow, she was slammed across the room into the wall.  The shock of it was enough to send all oxygen from her lungs and she even blacked out for a moment or two so that when she lifted her head, it was the bastard’s face she saw.

 

“You’re a Dreadlord!” she gasped, desperately trying to suck air into her lungs.  “I want to be a Dreadlady!  Take me to wherever I’m supposed to go and I swear by the Lord of Shayol Ghul I’ll do whatever you want.”

[Myth]

Her outburst took him by surprise. It was the last thing he had expected to hear.

 

After a moment’s pause, he asked her, but without loosening her bonds in the slightest, “You tried to kill me, and now you ask for a favor?” His tone was completely lacking in emotion, cold even to his own ears, tucked away in the Void as he was.

 

“Why should I let you breathe another breath? Why should I spare you after the vile trick you tried to play on me?”

 

Searching her face for an answer, he waited but no words came. He let her dangle for a few more moments, the silence growing ominous. “You swear that you will make it worth my while? Then prove it.”

 

He tied off the shield, then let her fall to the floor. The choice was hers now.

[Guest Estel]

She dropped to the floor with a sight of relief.  As for his ultimatum… that was easy.  He had proved that before.  He was a man.  Getting back to her feet, she pushed him backwards onto the bed.

 

“You going to drop your breeches or are you expecting me to do that?”

[Myth]

Drak grinned, then all rational thought was lost.